The defendants spent more than a year on a joint benefit until April 2013, when Blair filed documents with the ministry claiming she had broken up with Nicholson. Over the following six years she filed a raft of applications, all of which confirmed she was raising her children alone. Meanwhile, Nicholson was also overpaid benefits to which he was not entitled. Mr McCaskill, for Blair, argued for community detention to be imposed, stressing it was his client’s first time in court. But Judge Callaghan said the crimes — causing loss by deception, using a document and forgery — were simply too severe.

Source: Otago Daily Times July 09, 2020 16:30 UTC