EXCLUSIVE The fraudster next door: How woman posed as ordinary housewife living in boring suburban cul-de-sac… but was running secret £270k benefits scam for a DECADE
There is nothing remotely out of the ordinary about Angela Lloyd and Lee Phillips' semi-detached house on a quiet cul-de-sac in Merseyside.
And to the common eye, Lloyd looks like a normal middle-aged mum who works tirelessly to care for her sick husband.
So it was to the sheer shock of neighbours when police descended on their driveway to raid the couple's St Helens home.
Hiding behind the family's net curtains was in fact a decade-long web of lies which saw Lloyd and Phillips pocket £270k in taxpayer money.
Mother-of-two Lloyd, 58, cried 'Oh my god' as she was jailed this week over a string of untruths including using a dead woman's identity, making up 'bogus' medical conditions for her son, and creating pseudonyms to work while claiming carers allowance.
Husband Phillips, 54, was also jailed after the pair's massive benefits fraud was finally exposed.
While the couple managed to siphon off their ill-gotten gains for years - neighbours have revealed to MailOnline the obvious clues that the couple were running a scam.
Initially, neighbours on Birch Gardens were worried for the couple after Phillips was seen looking very frail as he would 'hobble' on his walking stick to meet his carers.
But they were then left puzzled when he was at other times spotted washing his BMW, driving, and even playing a DJ set for their street party for the late Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
Locals also told of how there was 'always something dodgy' about Lloyd, and that she would never look people 'in the eye', but would boast about 'secret £60k caravan' they would escape to on the weekends.
Lloyd was sentenced to two years after Liverpool Crown Court found she fraudulently pocketed nearly £170,000 in benefits over a decade, and also helped Phillips falsely claim benefits worth £100,000, as reported by the Liverpool Echo.
When neighbours saw them packing up one of their two cars earlier this week, they thought they were going off to stay at their secret caravan, only to find they were going to jail.
One neighbour told MailOnline of the couple: 'I thought they were dodgy as he made a real show of not being able to walk whenever his carers were here.
'He was shuffling along and holding onto his cars in the driveway before he took a long time to get to his carer's car on his walking stick.
'But the next thing I saw him washing his BMW in the driveway - he seemed to be walking fine then.
'And he did a DJ set for the Queen's Jubilee party back in 2022. He had all the speakers out and everything.
'But after the police raid, they became more reserved and didn't say a lot to people.
'There was always something dodgy about her - she wouldn't look people in the eye and bragged about going to her £60,000 caravan but would never say where it was.
'They would take her teenage son and go away on a Thursday night and not come home until Sunday.'
Phillips had fraudulently claimed £100k in PIP, housing benefits, employment support allowance and council tax reductions that he was not eligible for. Neighbours told of how he would look 'frail' and 'hobble on a walking stick' in the presence of carers, but at other times was seen 'walking fine'
Following the police raid on the quiet suburban street, neighbours were left with questions as to why the couple had been arrested - and some allege Lloyd had later told them it was down to dog breeding.
But these questions were finally put to rest on Tuesday when the court heard how Lloyd had claimed a total of £169,394.15 which she was not qualified for in housing benefits, carers allowance and personal independence payments over the course of 11-and-a-half years.
With the help of Lloyd, Phillips was also found to have illegally claimed £100,980.71 through PIP, housing benefits, employment support allowance and council tax reductions since 2018.
Olivia Beesley, prosecuting, outlined how the mother-of-two's elaborate scam began when she falsely began claiming housing benefits for a caravan on Riverside Walk in Southport - which was found to be a 'fictitious address'.
She even made a fake tenancy agreement for the 'entirely fictitious caravan', ultimately pocketing £71,597.16 from Lancashire Borough Council in relation to the non-existent residence.
Then in 2018, she began making fraudulent claims that her husband needed 'multiple daily carers to attend to his needs'. She went as far as using Phillips' sister Zoe's birth certificate to pose as his sibling and claim that she was his main carer.
She also lied that she was unable to work due to being a full-time carer, but was found to have been working under a false identity Wendy Lloyd at care company Hand in Hand Homecare, and under another pseudonym Angela Valentine at a Tesco.
In 2022, she began inventing 'false medical conditions' for her son, claiming she had a carer called Joyce Bibby - a dead woman's identity. Nearly £10k in false disability living allowance overpayments were claimed in relation to this.
She again used the deceased woman's name as being her social worker to claim £13,526.70 of PIP, stating that she needed carers due to 'health conditions'.
When MailOnline visited Phillips' address in Birch Gardens which he shared with Lloyd, neighbours revealed how the couple and her son would supposedly go off to a caravan on the weekends.
It is not known whether this was the same 'fictitious caravan' which transpired to have never existed, or a indeed a separate, real caravan.
Leni Newton, 63, said: 'She told people that the police raid was because someone had told on her for breeding border collie puppies without a licence.
'I'm shocked they've been jailed. I thought they were all above board.
'I only saw them a few days ago packing up suitcases - I thought they were just going to their caravan.'
She added: 'I know they met as she was his carer. He was married but Angela moved in. I thought she had lived in Southport.
'I did see his ex-wife parked up in the street watching his house when they split.
'She was obviously spying on them.'
Her partner David Manchester, 70, said: 'It's a big surprise they seemed to be living a double life.
'There were a lot of police came here.
'He was at the street party for the Queen but other times he did seem very frail.'
Hand in Hand homecare agency confirmed to MailOnline that Lloyd had bona fide references, DBS checks and training certificates in the name of Wendy Lloyd.
A spokesman said: 'We sacked her immediately when we found out the truth.
'All her DBS and references checked out. The police said we had done nothing wrong.'
The court heard how Phillips also swindled money from the public purse by failing to disclose the fact that Lloyd had moved into his home in 2018 - allowing him to continue claiming more than £13k in housing benefits and £2.2k in council tax reductions.
He is also said to have 'exaggerated' his medical conditions and need for care, stating that he was unable to do anything for himself.
He declared himself 'unfit for work' and failed to mention his wife's wage - illegally pocketing £51k in employment support allowance.
However, Phillips alleged that Lloyd had completed the form and had just 'asked him to sign it'.
Phillips' counsel Jim Smith argued he has a 'complex recent history' of mental health and disabilities including neurological disorder, anxiety and depression.
He was also said to have a pacemaker fitted and appeared in court in a wheelchair.
While Phillips had no previous convictions relating to similar matters, however Lloyd's criminal record shows previous entries for theft and dishonesty offences dating as far back as the 1980s - though her last appearance was in 2012.
Lloyd was jailed for two years after admitting seven counts of fraud by false representation, and Phillips was also seen wiping back tears as he was jailed for 20 months for fraud by false representation and three counts of dishonestly failing to disclose information to make a gain.
Sentencing, Judge Simon Medland KC said: 'Over an 11-year period, or more than that, you, Angela Lloyd, managed to defraud the public of just short of £170,000 and you, Lee Phillips, of about £100,000. In your case, Mr Phillips, over a five-year period, you had about £20,000 per year which you defrauded from the public.
'For those who seek to defraud the public of scarce and valuable benefits which need to be directed to those who need them, not those who simply wish to have them for reasons of personal greed, that is a serious offence committed by each of you over a long period of time.'
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