A Ramsey woman who committed benefit fraud and later failed to complete her community service sentence has been jailed for 10 weeks.

Loryn Walker, also known as Petrie, was originally sentenced to 140 hours’ community service in April last year after pleading guilty to 12 counts of benefit fraud.

She had failed to declare maintenance payments she was receiving, which led to her being overpaid £9,179 in state benefits.

Walker, aged 33, appeared before magistrates again recently having failed to carry out the unpaid work imposed by the court.

At that stage, she still had 98 hours left to complete.

The court heard that Walker had been given an extension to complete the order until December 2024, but had still failed to comply with the sentence.

Prosecuting advocate Kate Alexander said that Walker initially made progress, completing some hours between April and October 2023. However, after that, her attendance fell away.

Probation services raised concerns about her engagement, sending her a letter, but received no response.

Community service was temporarily unavailable during December 2023 and January 2024 due to staffing issues, but the court was told that opportunities resumed in February when Walker was offered a placement at Hospice Isle of Man.

However, she messaged probation officers on the day to say she was unwell.

A second appointment was arranged for March, but she failed to attend this as well.

Walker later contacted the court asking to be re-sentenced, suggesting that the community service be replaced with a fine.

A probation report presented to the court on March 26 described Walker as ‘obstructive’ and ‘uncooperative’, noting that she had walked out of the probation interview before it had finished.

The defendant also raised issues with a proposed placement at the Home of Rest for Old Horses, claiming that the court had misinformed her about the availability of a Sunday work group. Despite this, probation officers made several further attempts to engage with her, but without success.

Walker was previously granted bail while the case was adjourned for reports, and at an earlier hearing, it was revealed that she also owed £1,288 in unpaid parking fines.

She was ordered at that time to repay these at £80 per month.

In mitigation, Walker’s advocate James Peterson said that his client had initially complied with the community service order but had encountered difficulties due to injury and changes in her working hours.

He said Walker accepted she had not completed the order but had tried to engage and had now asked for an alternative sentence to resolve the matter.

However, magistrates said they had no alternative but to revoke the community service order and impose a custodial sentence, given the defendant’s continued non-compliance and lack of engagement with probation.

Walker, who lives at Greenlands Avenue, wept in the dock as she was told she would be jailed for 10 weeks. She was taken into custody immediately following the hearing.