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A woman won £20,000 on Premium Bonds, sold her home and spent a year abroad before falsely claiming thousands in benefits on her return to Kent.

Despite having a large sum of cash in the bank from the property sale, Diana Lucas, from Folkestone, applied for Universal Credit and a reduction in her council tax bill.

Between 2021 and 2024, she received more than £23,000 after making false statements to the Department for Work and Pensions.

But after an anonymous tip-off, the 56-year-old’s accounts were investigated and she was hauled before magistrates earlier this year.

However, Lucas was spared jail when she appeared in court this week, having previously pleaded guilty to dishonestly making a false statement to obtain benefits and dishonestly making a false statement to obtain

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