Wendy Long
2.4K posts









Benefit cheat Bethany Elwood, 31, pocketed £78,057 in Universal Credit by lying she was single for over four years. The mum-of-two from Parson Cross, Sheffield, kept claiming as a lone parent even after her full-time employed boyfriend moved in with her in the mid-2020s. She failed to update the DWP and continued raking in the cash until a member of the public tipped off the fraud hotline in 2024. When interviewed she initially denied it but then made a full admission. At Sheffield Magistrates’ Court she was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to repay the full £78k at just £20 a month. The judge called it a “long term, wilful fraud for a great deal of money” that defrauds every taxpayer. £20 a month......











