A former magistrate who stole £27,000 of taxpayers’ money told a judge she couldn’t afford to pay a fine for making conversions to her home that she didn’t have permission for.
Sandra Howell was jailed for nine months at Liverpool Crown Court back in 2018 after it emerged she was working as a cleaner while claiming disability benefits. She was kicked off the bench of Stockport Magistrates' Court after being found guilty of benefit fraud and was back in court today after ignoring an enforcement notice issued by her local council.
Yet despite only being ordered to pay back a fraction of the £25,000 she owes her Stockport Council at a rate of £20 per month, the 50-year-old said she couldn’t afford it. Howell was jailed after claiming thousands of pounds in higher rate Disability Living Allowance while secretly working as a domestic cleaner for various customers.
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Howell was in a wheelchair in the dock during her trial at Liverpool Crown Court. Jurors in her trial four years ago were shown footage of her walking unaided around the court building. The court heard evidence from cleaning customers including a head teacher who told how she went to Howell’s wedding and saw her dancing. They took less than two hours to find her guilty of two fraud offences and she was jailed for nine months.
This year, she was convicted of failing to comply with an enforcement notice by a jury. That arose from changes she made to the driveway and wall outside her home in Stockport to allow it to be used as a parking space.
Numerous notices requesting her to revert it back to the way it was were ignored, Liverpool Crown Court heard, with Stockport Council making the first request back in 2016. Adrian Farrow, prosecuting, said the local authority had spent significant time and money both trying to get Howell to change the driveway back to the way it was and then in taking her to court.
The court heard the council has shelled out a total of £25,865 on the case. However, Howell’s limited income means it is unlikely to get the vast majority of that back.
She receives £623 per month via Universal Credit and told the court she no longer receives Personal Independence Payments. Judge David Swinnerton ordered Howell to pay a fine of £350 and costs of £350, an amount he said was “woefully inadequate” but was in line with what her income allowed.
Judge Swinnerton said if she did not pay she could face prison. Howell, of Stockport Road, Stockport, appeared over video link for the hearing, saying her agoraphobia and complex regional pain syndrome meant she could not attend in person.
On hearing the amount the judge was ordering her to pay, Howell said: “I don’t have £20 a month.” Judge Swinnerton replied: “Well Ms Howell you will have to make some savings.”
He said her attitude towards rules was disappointing given the fact she was once responsible for administering justice. Judge Swinnerton said: “Perhaps surprisingly, given you spent some years as a magistrate, you seem to ignore regulations when they apply to yourself.”
