A mother-of-seven who cheated the taxpayer out of nearly £10,000 in benefits despite owning three homes has been spared jail.

Andrea Martin, 45, wrongly claimed in housing and council tax benefits between November 2005 to August 2007 - and is now repaying a total of £9,974.57.

She was caught out after taking one of her tenants to court to evict him in 2007.

When questioned by police, Martin denied knowledge of the three properties in Gideon Road, Battersea, Leyton, east London and Bexleyheath, Kent.

She claimed she did not see a penny of the money and suggested she had been used by a mortgage fraud gang, Inner London Crown Court heard last Monday.

The court also heard she was interviewed in relation to an alleged mortgage fraud with two other men, but there was “no further action” against her.

Martin admitted three counts of fraud after being told she would not be jailed.

The judge, Recorder Andrew Campbell-Tiech QC, sentenced her to two months imprisonment suspended for 12 months plus 40 hours’ unpaid work.

He also ordered her to pay £500 costs.

Martin, of Stanford Road, Norbury, admitted three counts of failing to notify a change in circumstances but denied three like charges spanning December 2001 to June 2003, which were left to lie on the court file.