A Ballasalla woman who fraudulently claimed more than £7,000 in benefits has had her community service order revoked and replaced with a suspended sentence.

Abbey Cara Louise Gilman, aged 32, was sentenced in March 2024 to a combination order comprising 100 hours’ community service and 12 months’ probation, after admitting four counts of benefit fraud. But the matter was brought back before the court this week, where the community service element was removed at the request of Probation Services.

Deputy High Bailiff Rachael Braidwood re-sentenced Gilman to 14 weeks in custody, suspended for two years, and imposed a two-year supervision order.

Gilman, who lives at Clagh Vane in Ballasalla, was found to have falsely claimed Income Support and Job Seekers Allowance between 2021 and 2023, failing to declare paid work and a change of address.

The offences came to light following an anonymous tip-off made on September 22, 2023, alleging that Gilman was not living at the address listed on her benefit claims. Investigators carried out checks and found the property appeared unoccupied. A further review of her bank records revealed she had been receiving regular payments from a taxi company and a gymnastics club on the Isle of Man.

Energy usage data from the property also suggested it had not been in use for some time, with a marked drop in consumption since January 2023.

Gilman was interviewed by the Department of Health and Social Security. She claimed she had only worked a few hours a week as a driver for a taxi firm, earning around £40 weekly, and insisted she had declared the earnings.

Regarding the gymnastics payments, she initially stated they were for judging a competition and that most of her involvement was voluntary.

However, during the course of the interview, she admitted the payments were not for judging alone.

She also claimed she had been staying at her mother’s house because of a flooded toilet at her registered address, but further enquiries revealed the issue had been reported and fixed more than three years earlier, in 2020.

The total overpayment amounted to £7,039.46, comprising £1,672.92 in Income Support and £5,366.54 in JSA. Prosecutors previously confirmed the fraud had been carried out from the outset of her claim.

At her most recent hearing, probation officers applied for the revocation of Gilman’s community service due to her personal circumstances.

Defence advocate Kaitlyn Shimmin told the court her client had been engaging well with probation and was balancing multiple responsibilities.

She said Gilman is attending college regularly, caring for her stepfather, and home-schooling her child, who has health difficulties.

Ms Shimmin said these commitments had made it increasingly difficult for Gilman to meet the time demands of community service, despite her compliance with the supervision requirement.

Deputy High Bailiff Braidwood said she was satisfied that the original order should be replaced and imposed a 14-week prison sentence, suspended for two years. She also extended Gilman’s supervision order to match the period of suspension.