Guilty pleas from OAP who made fraudulent benefit claims

A pensioner from Douglas has pleaded guilty to claiming more than £38,000 in benefits she wasn't entitled to.

69-year-old Jean Collette Matthews, of Glen Park Drive, sobbed in the dock at Douglas Courthouse on Thursday as she entered her pleas. 

Matthews admitted making three false representations to obtain the money between September 2011 and October 2017. 

The court heard her claim for support had been fraudulent from the outset after she'd failed to declare that she owned, and had sold, a property in Douglas for £260,000. 

Magistrates committed her for sentencing at the Court of General Gaol Delivery - she's been bailed until her next appearance there on November 5th.