Pensioner, 66, sentenced to jail for cheating taxpayers out of £600,000 trends now
A pensioner who cheated a council out of £600,000 after claiming she was bed-bound is still on the run in Berlin.
Frances Noble, 66, was jailed in her absence for four years nine months in June this year in what the judge said was possibly the largest fraud of its type to come before the English courts.
At the proceeds of crime hearing today at St Albans crown court prosecutor Andrew Johnson said Noble was an absconder who had not responded to a statement setting out the criminal benefit she had obtained from Hertfordshire County Council.
He said an extradition process had begun with the National Crime Agency making an application on behalf of the local authority.
Frances Noble (left), 66, was jailed in her absence for four years nine months in June this year in what the judge said was possibly the largest fraud of its type to come before the English courts
Her daughter Laura Borrell, 45, appeared on a video link from Peterborough prison in the trial. She had benefited by £278,813.65 from her part in the criminal activity and was jailed for three years and nine months. She had previously appeared on ITV's This Morning and claimed she was the youngest dementia sufferer in Britain
Her daughter Laura Borrell, 45, appeared on a video link from Peterborough prison.
She had benefited by £278,813.65 from her part in the criminal activity.
Mr Johnson said the money available for confiscation, which was the proceeds from the matrimonial home, was £22,707.
Judge Richard Foster said that she would serve an extra 12 months in prison if that sum was not handed over.
Her husband Philip, also 45, could not appear on a link from Highpoint prison today and is now due at the court next Tuesday.
Laura and Philip Borrell had appeared on ITV's This Morning show to tell Philip Scofield and Holly Willoughby she was one of the youngest people ever to have dementia.
Laura Borrell was jailed for three years nine months and Philip Borrell for four years three months for the care package money they received.
They and her mother had been living in Damask Green Road, Weston, Herts at the time they were sentenced.
The court heard that tens of thousands of pounds of the care package money from Hertfordshire County Council was passed onto the Borrells, who went on luxury North American holidays in Canada, San Francisco, Boston and Orlando.
Between 2005 and 2018, Noble convinced the council that her condition was so serious that she required intensive round-the-clock home care at her bungalow in Datchworth near Stevenage.
Laura Borrell's husband, Philip Borrell, was jailed for four years three months for the care package money him and his wife had received
But she was seen by her neighbours walking her dog Bertie early in the morning and was videoed by one as she walked around her back garden.
Investigators watched as she took in a Tesco home delivery which she was able to unpack.
Mr Johnson said when one neighbour saw Noble in her back garden she pulled a hood over her face and said: 'I am not Frances. I am her carer.'
Over a 13-year period, between August 1, 2005, and November 30, 2018, Frances Noble had obtained £624,047.15p.
Noble had been granted a 'direct payment care package' which allows people with disabilities, or their family members and friends, to choose
