A WOMAN who claimed almost £44,000 of benefits to which she was not entitled has escaped a jail sentence.

Michelle Bell claimed tens of thousands of pounds in council tax and housing benefits over two years, telling officials she was a single mother unable to work.

However, she had started a relationship with a lodger – former Ferndown Chamber of Commerce chair and funeral director Shaun Flynn – and was living with him in a common household.

A judge at Bournemouth Crown Court heard that Bell, 43, had not been “living the high life” with the stolen money.

Prosecuting, John Reynolds said: “Ms Bell claimed income support legitimately from November 1998 on the basis that she was a single parent, disabled and unable to work.

“She claimed housing benefit and council tax support on the same basis from June 2002. Surveillance was carried out on her accommodation in Barnes Road between March 2012 and May 2012 and it was determined that she was living with Mr Flynn.”

An investigation revealed that the defendant had claimed £43,884 she was not entitled to, and had even moved to Scotland with Mr Flynn when proceedings against her began.

Speaking in mitigation, Timothy Bradbury said Bell, now of Ford Close in Ferndown, had “buried her head in the sand”.

“She was so anxious about proceedings she put them out of her mind,” he said, adding that the defendant’s claims had originally been “genuine”.

Judge Samuel Wiggs told Bell that the public had lost “a lot of money” as a result of her offence.

She was handed a 14-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and will be subject to an electronically-monitored curfew for the next three months.