Benefits cheat who said she needed a wheelchair caught riding a horse

A woman who fraudulently claimed thousands of pounds in disability benefits was caught out after she was spotted on Facebook pictures riding a horse. Michelle Hanney said she could only walk between 20 and 50 metres and had to use a wheelchair when going out.

The 51-year-old, from Greasbrough, Rotherham, claimed both Personal Independence Payment and Universal Credit. But Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) investigators spotted the Facebook pictures of her riding and walking the horse.

Follow up surveillance after the pictures were found showed her walking the horse, YorkshireLive reports. Hanney, who has since been convicted incourt, was caught stealing £33,711.24 in benefits, but was convicted on a lesser amount of £10,384.50.

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She has been sentenced to a 12-month community order, whilst the DWP will now take steps to recover the full ill-gotten gains.

“This conviction is another example of our relentless focus on finding those taking the taxpayer for a ride and bringing them to justice," a spokesman said.

The prosecution comes as the latest figures show a 10% drop in fraud and error over the past year, with plans to drive those numbers down further. A robust plan was launched by the Department in 2022 to further tackle fraud and error in the benefits system.

The Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System plan, backed by £900 million over three years, bolsters the counter-fraud frontline significantly with measures including the hiring of trained specialists to review millions of Universal Credit claims. To ensure DWP continues to keep up the pressure on those intent on exploiting the system, the Department has set a new