Benefits cheat runner gets 28 days to repay £22k - or go to prison

A LYING benefits cheat mum who claimed more than £20,000 while competing in scores of running events has been ordered to repay the money.

- Sentinel Reporter

Sara Morris, aged 50, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2005 but in 2020 she exaggerated the extent of her condition and claimed Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

The mum-of-three told lies about the severity of her MS and said she lacked the power to stand at the cooker, lacked balance and experienced difficulties getting out of the bath unassisted. She also claimed to be anxious when she left the house and even a trip to the pharmacy to collect her medication left her in tears.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard she was paid £2,292.63 in PIP a month. But she failed to mention to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that she was in fact a member of the Stone Master Marathoners and regularly ran 5km and 10km races. She was caught out by her own Facebook posts of herself running.