Benefit cheat mother jailed

A mother-of-three who conned £16,000 from benefits agencies when she continued to claim for her children after they were taken into care has been jailed.

Paula Russell was sentenced to four months in prison after Worcester Crown Court heard on Friday how she continued to claim income support and child benefits.

The court heard that Russell, 33 and from Colwall, failed to tell authorities that her children had been put into care.

She was described by her own defence solicitor as an unsophisticated fraudster.

Russell pleaded guilty to four counts of making false declarations and asked for 127 similar offences to be taken into consideration.

The court heard she had already served one month of her sentence on remand.