Advocate slams Treasury for making 'pig's ear' of court case

Charges dismissed against Douglas woman

Benefits officials who said a Douglas woman had fraudulently claimed £30,000 later admitted she owed less than 10 per cent of that amount.

Sixty-five-year-old Sheila Margaret Creasey, of Alexander Drive, appeared before magistrates at Douglas courthouse.

She faced nine charges of making false representations to obtain benefits between April 2019 and December 2020.

Prosecution advocate Hazel Carroon said after dropping the figure to just £3,177 benefits officials had done the math a third time and estimated Mrs Creasey owed around £2,500.

Defence advocate Peter Taylor called the miscalculations "a pig's ear" and "shambolic" as no evidence was offered in the case.

Magistrates marked all the charges against Mrs Creasey as dismissed.