Benefits cheat said she could barely walk but social media told different story

Daily Mirror

a day ago

Lying mum-of-three Sara Morris was diagnosed with a devastating condition and was later jailed for lying about the severity of her symptoms in order to claim more than £20,000 in benefits
Sara Morris was caught out by her own Facebook posts after she claimed she could hardly stand while regularly running races.
The mum-of-three from Stoke-on-Trent was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2005, but by 2020 she was seriously exaggerating the extent of her condition. Morris, 50, claimed more than £20,000 in Personal Independence Payments, known as PIP, between 2020 and 2023 after saying she wasn't able to stand at the cooker, lacked balance and had difficulties getting out of the bath unassisted.
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But her social media pictures told a very different story - a member of the Stone Master Marathoners, Morris regularly ran 5km and 10km races. In February 2023, investigators from the Department for Work and Pensions carrying out surveillance noted Morris took part in a five mile race, where she was seen running without assistance.
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Despite claiming that even a short walk to the pharmacy had left her in tears, she completed 73 races between May 2019 and December 2022. Interviewed in May that year, Morris claimed her MS had worsened and she was suffered from fatigue. She said of the condition: "[the] severity of its impact ebbs and flows to a degree".
The benefits cheat pleaded guilty to dishonestly making a false statement to obtain a benefit and was jailed for eight months last July. She was ordered to repay £22,386.02 at a subsequent proceeds of crime hearing.
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Defending, Cliff said Morris's marriage had broken down in 2020 but added: "It is accepted by her that the application did not give the full picture. It crossed over into the realms of dishonesty... She lost her home because of financial problems and was struggling to keep her head above water financially."
The lying mum served nine weeks in jail and later described her experiences on TikTok, attracting tens of thousands of views. Of the food she said: "You do get a choice. Some of the options are a bit ropey.
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"You get lots and lots of double carbs. You would eat things like rice with a side portion of potatoes.
"Sunday lunches were normally pretty good. The portion sizes are pretty big when you go to the servery. Things like crisps you would only maybe get once or twice a week."
Morris also described becoming the target of a fellow prisoner, saying: "The officer said don't worry about it, we're keeping an eye on her and it's just your turn. The first big incident that came was in a long, thin corridor.
"I came out of the servery with my little blue plate... walked towards the staircase where I would go to the first floor where my room was and this woman came straight towards me and as soon as I saw her face I thought 'oh no, I'm in trouble here' and she looked directly at me, then she looked at the plate and she put her hand underneath the plate and slapped my dinner all over me. It was terrifying."