Jail for £30,000 benefit fraud

A man who dishonestly claimed more than £30,000 in state benefits over 10 years has been jailed for a year.

John Terence Smith, from Mather Avenue, Allerton in Merseyside, pleaded guilty to six offences.

Liverpool Crown Court heard he failed to declare that his wife was working as a cashier in a betting shop.

The claims spanned a 10 year period but Smith had not spent the money on luxuries and had repaid more than £5,000, the court was told.