Lambeth Labour crackdown on benefit cheats

Patrick Crawford jailed for six months at Camberwell Magistrates court

Vauxhall resident Patrick Crawford has been jailed for six months after cheating the public of £11,200 in a housing and council-tax benefit scam.

Mr Crawford, of Kennings Way, SE11, appeared before District Justice Savat at Camberwell Magistrates Court on October 17 and 19. The court was told that when he made his claim for benefit he did not declare that he was the joint owner of another property. The court also found that Mr Crawford could offer no satisfactory explanation as to why he had not sold this house to pay off his housing benefits overpayments, or why he had failed to declare his ownership in the first instance.

The judge sentenced him to a total of six months.

“This case is now the fourth in a row in which fraudsters brought to court by Lambeth have received prison sentences”, said Councillor Jim Dickson, Labour cabinet member for finance. “The fraud was brought to light by Lambeth housing officers and investigated and prosecuted by Lambeth’s own investigative and legal teams. It illustrates the high priority Labour places on safeguarding the public purse,” he declared.

Residents have not forgotten the very different approach the Lambeth Liberal Democrats took to benefit fraud while they were running the council. When senior Lib Dem councillor Gabriel Fernandes was accused of committing housing benefit fraud, the Lib Dems unsuccessfully tried to cover up the allegations while they called a snap by-election in the hope the public wouldn’t find out. The Lib Dems lost the following by-election, and Fernandes was found guilty in the following court case.

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