DWP left dad suicidal after 'vindictive' fine over £110 claimed his home

A dad was left without a home and contemplating suicide after being hit with a 'vindictive' fine from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for being paid too much Carer's Allowance, which ultimately forced him to sell his house or face imprisonment.

George Henderson, 64, from Leyland, Lancashire, was mistakenly paid under £110 in benefits, leading to a benefit fraud prosecution by the DWP in 2018, which resulted in him having to sell his two-bedroom home. In a recent admission, the DWP conceded in a letter that he likely made an innocent error.

The Mirror reports that prosecutors accused him of disregarding annual reminders to declare any changes in circumstances and falsely claiming he was unemployed. The stress of the situation drove him to attempt suicide, and he has been unable to return to work since the court case.

READ MORE: DWP could stop PIP payments if claimants do not tell them about certain changes

Now, amid public outrage and calls from charities for a system overhaul, he is considering appealing his sentence again.

Henderson wrote to Mel Stride, the Work and Pensions Secretary, detailing his struggle and his efforts to overturn his conviction on appeal. Astonishingly, he received an apologetic response from the DWP, though they did not offer compensation.

The letter acknowledged: "The appeal conceded that you were a convincing and credible witness [and] it was more probable than not that you were telling the truth and that the false declaration was an innocent mistake."

A dispute erupted last week when the DWP seized a woman's £16,000 inheritance because she failed to declare her minimum wage job at the Co-op. Mrs Groom had been caring for her elderly mother while also working.

She had agreed to