'Miss Holiday' claimed £40K in benefits but 'had more air miles than Air Force One'

A jet-setting divorcee who splashed out on back-to-back holidays has avoided jail after falsely claiming benefits while secretly hoarding thousands in savings.

Susan Pearson, 58, received more than £40,000 in Universal Credit across five years by saying she had no money, despite secretly holding more than £40,000 in two accounts. She also secured a £500 reduction on her council tax. Nicknamed "Miss Holiday" by pals, she posted online about trips to Tunisia, Cyprus, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Tenerife and a Mediterranean cruise. In one post, she joked: "About time - not had a holiday since last week." Friends teased she had "more air miles than Air Force One".

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Welfare officials began investigating Pearson after a tip-off revealed undeclared savings with Nationwide and a Co-Funds pension account. Records showed she withdrew £13,000 in a single month. When challenged, Pearson, from Platt Bridge in Wigan, Greater Manchester, said she had spent some of the money on windows and roof repairs - but her holiday pictures painted a different picture.

At Bolton Crown Court, she admitted two charges of dishonestly failing to disclose information and was ordered by a judge to use all of her savings to pay the benefits back. She had faced up to two years jail under sentencing guidelines. She broke down and wept when told she would go free. The maximum capital limit for those claiming Universal Credit is £16,000.

Earlier Miss Ellie Watson, prosecuting said: "On May 21, 2018, the defendant submitted an online application to claim Universal Credit saying she was single, unemployed and that she had no savings, income, investments or other capital.

"The Department for Work and Pensions later received information from a data match that the defendant held an account with Nationwide and an investment account with Co-Funds which had not been declared on her application form despite agreeing that she had provided all the information.

"A request to the Operational Intelligence Unit within DWP took place in June 2023 requesting details of any bank accounts held by the defendant during the period in which she was claiming Universal Credit.

"It was identified that she held two accounts with Nationwide which showed capital above the permitted limit of £16,000. Statements of transactions were supplied for both the accounts and are seen to have far in excess of the permitted limit, reaching up to £40,616.37.

''The claim was fraudulent from the outset and being over a five year period was made over a prolonged period of time. “On March 30, 2023, the defendant made a claim for Council Tax reduction. The application was successful and she was therefore in receipt of a reduction from April 3, 2023.''

Pearson was overpaid £40,334.21 in Universal Credit, the court heard. The total amount she got off her council tax was £536.22. She is currently legitimately claiming £55 a week in carer's allowance to help her look after her 83-year-old mother.

In mitigation Pearson's lawyer Martin Pizzey, said: "The defendant is rather overwhelmed by what is going on around her but she wants me to stress that she knows she did something wrong. She now has the one account from which she is living."

He added: ''I would describe this defendant as rather fragile and she was very worried and frightened by the whole process. It appears that when her marriage broke down, through no fault of her own she was not prepared for the single life. She has no siblings, only her mother survives and she has no children.

"She has tried to pay the money to the DWP and they have refused to take it and are instead taking a small deduction from her carer’s allowance. She has substantial responsibility looking for her mother.''

Pearson herself brought a passport style book with a record of her transactions which she showed to the judge. The judge noted the balance as of November 19, 2024 was £40,436.79. Speaking from the dock, she said: “I do not understand these things - I am not very bright."

In sentencing, Judge Nicholas Clarke KC said: ''I am sure you are thoroughly ashamed of yourself to be in the dock at that age. But I do not want you to remain in the anxious state that I can see you are in so I want you to know you are not going to prison today. But you will need to make arrangements to pay the compensation.'' He added: ''In my judgment that should be sufficient to let her start again. The thing is, at 58, she has lost her good name. She admitted the matter as soon as she could before the courts.

“In all the circumstances, the delay in the proceedings and having to come to the crown court, in my judgment this has been a very significant traumatic event for her where she has no doubt been afraid that she may go to prison.

“Life took a turn she has found difficult to deal with. She will pay the money back but she would be well advised to have that transferred as soon as it can be achieved and go straight around and make such a claim for assistance as is appropriate, as long as she is honest about her means.”