Latest news with #LeePhillips
Powys County Times
2 hours ago
- Powys County Times
West Midlands woman in Powys car theft wearing slippers
A mother-of-five has been told she will not be sent to prison for stealing a car and tools during an overnight crime spree. Police caught Tarran Wilkes driving away from the theft in Llanfair Caereinion wearing her pink bedroom slippers during the early hours of January 7, 2023. Mold Crown Court was told that the "easily influenced" 32-year-old was "not the architect of this escapade" and had agreed at a late stage to become involved in the thefts. She pleaded guilty on the morning of her trial to stealing Makita tools in Ford, Shropshire and a Vauxhall Insignia in Llanfair Caereinion, near Welshpool. Judge Simon Mills imposed a 12-month community order on the former West Midlands woman who now lives in Devon with her children. "You played a significant role which has left you with nothing but bad memories and the worry of what was going to happen to you," he said on Thursday (June 5). "You've removed yourself a long way from negative influences in your life and you've stayed away from cocaine; it's an evil substance." Prosecuting barrister David Maidstone had told the court that Lee Phillips realised that he'd left his van unlocked overnight on his driveway in Ford and that a drill set, radio and kettle had been stolen. Mr Phillips then checked his Ring doorbell which showed a Nissan X-Trail SUV outside his property. More than 20 miles away in Llanfair Caereinion, Adam Woolley's black Vauxhall Insignia had been stolen and used to steal the tools in Ford. Wilkes and her accomplice Chelsea Ross had dropped off two men in Llanfair Caereinion who later stole the Vauxhall in Pool Road. The women were already driving back to the West Midlands in the Nissan X-Trial when police stopped them in Westbury, near Shrewsbury and found Mr Phillips' tools in the back of the car. Following her arrest, Wilkes protested her innocence claiming that she had picked up Ross from her grandmother's caravan, followed by giving police different accounts about what happened. Police were able to pinpoint where Wilkes had been that evening through mobile phone data. Lee Phillips said in a statement read out in court that he was "extremely pleased" to receive his tools back which would have cost £500 to replace. However, the theft has made him "extremely paranoid". Adam Woolley said the theft has left a "significant" impact on his mental and physical health with sleepless nights and panic attacks. Defence barrister Andrew Jebb told the court that the case had taken a year-and-a-half from Wilkes' arrest to the first hearing at the magistrates' court in October 2024. "This was not Miss Wilkes' plan," he said. "She was not the architect of this escapade. "When she was arrested, she was in her pink bedroom slippers driving the vehicle. She agreed at a late stage to become involved, and she knows she never should have agreed to become involved and knows she will be punished for getting involved." Mr Jebb added that Wilkes' had moved away from the West Midlands with her young family to Devon in late 2023. "Your honour will have read the tragic events of 2014, and it was these events that in fact link to her very brief period of using cocaine," he said. He added that during her journey to court she had separated from her husband. "From this point onward she is likely to be a single mother again to these five children and will need assistance and guidance of the Probation Service because now her former husband may seek to renew contact which she most certainly doesn't want to happen," he added. Sentencing Wilkes, Judge Simon Mills told the mother-of-five that will not be going to prison for the thefts. Even though her behaviour was "serious", the judge said he had considered Wilkes turning her life around, bringing up five children on her own, no convictions since appearing in court and that it had been more than two years since the thefts. "I'm not going to impose a punishment which you're not going to complete," he said. "You live a long way away from here. You've just become a single mother. Your very straightened financial circumstances which are only going to get harder." Wilkes, of Barnstaple, Devon, must pay Vauxhall Insignia owner Adam Woolley £160 for his work uniform which had not been recovered. Wilkes' co-accused Chelsea Ross, of Mill Street, Willenhall, near Wolverhampton was jailed for five weeks in April for the same offences and handling stolen goods in January 2023.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
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.'
South Wales Argus
29-05-2025
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Average wedding guest spends nearly £700 on celebrations
The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) found that each guest averages a spend of £692, including travel and accommodation, new clothes, and presents. Most guests attend three celebrations annually, accumulating costs of more than £2,000. This expense is significantly higher for people aged 25 to 34 who attend six celebrations per year, with their costs rising to nearly £4,500. In Wales, the strain of these expenses is no less significant. Wales manager at the Money and Pensions Service Lee Phillips said: "Attending a wedding or civil partnership can put a strain on your finances, as the cost of gifts, travel and accommodation, new outfits, and childcare can really start to add up, especially as celebrations can go on for 2-3 days. "To support managing your money around expensive milestones, use MoneyHelper – particularly ahead of the spring and summer which is considered the peak season for these celebrations."
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Benefits cheat mother who invented fake medical issues for teenage son to claim £170,000 is jailed
A mother who pretended her son was suffering from fake medical conditions as part of a campaign to fraudulently claim £170,000 in benefits has been jailed for two years. Angela Lloyd, 58, from Merseyside, said the 15-year-old needed a carer called Joyce Bibby - a woman who died before the claim was even made. She also lied about her job at Tesco and concocted a range of pseudonyms over an 11-year campaign to steal taxpayer's cash. The part-time care worker even used a dead woman's identity as part of a con which saw her partner Lee Phillips net ill-gotten gains amounting to a further £100,000. Liverpool Crown Court heard on Tuesday Lloyd fraudulently claimed a total £169,394 in housing benefit, personal independence payments and carer's allowance. While Phillips helped himself to £100.980 in false claims for employment support allowance, PIP, housing benefit and council tax reduction. Prosecutor Olivia Beesley said Lloyd's con first began in February 2012 when she started claiming housing benefits in relation to a caravan. The 58-year-old even created a false tenancy agreement for the 'entirely fictitious' caravan, enabling her to swindle £71,597 from West Lancashire Borough Council. Lloyd then began making fraudulent claims in respect of Phillips to St Helens Borough Council in 2018. She claimed her husband required 'multiple daily carers to attend to his needs' and used his sister Zoe Phillips' birth certificate to pose as the sibling, whom she falsely maintained was his main carer. She also claimed that she was not in employment due to caring commitments for her co-defendant, which she said amounted to 35 hours per week. However, she was in fact working for care company Hand in Hand Homecare under the pseudonym Wendy Lloyd and at a Tesco store using the name Angela Valentine. This saw her benefit to the tune of £73,085 in relation to costs for fictitious carers, as well as £753.40 in carers allowance. From January 2022, Lloyd then began to pretend her son had a medical condition. She stated he had a carer called Joyce Bibby, a woman who had died before the claim was initiated. As a result, she falsely claimed £9,922 in disability living allowance overpayments and personal independence payments of £508 in relation to the then 15-year-old boy. Meanwhile, she benefited from £13,526 of PIP 'on the grounds that she needed carers to help with her daily care due to her health conditions', again naming the deceased Ms Bibby as her social worker. Phillips also failed to disclose to the council that Lloyd had moved into his home in St Helens during 2018. This enabled him to continue to claim £13,633 in housing benefits and £2,246 in council tax reductions on the false basis that he was living alone. The 54-year-old was further said to have 'exaggerated his medical conditions, caring needs and capabilities' in order to pocket PIP overpayments of £32,073. Having declared himself unfit for work and claimed to have no other income he falsely gained a further £51,397 in employment support allowance. Phillips later alleged that Lloyd 'had completed the form for him and had just asked him to sign it'. His counsel Jim Smith said: 'The defendant has a complex recent history of mental health and physical disabilities. He suffers from a functional neurological disorder. 'He has a pacemaker with a defibrillator fitted. He is a type two diabetic. He suffers from kidney failure, anxiety and depression. 'He is in receipt of substantial medication to treat those conditions and is presently seen by a number of carers who attend to his medication and mobility issues. He appears in court today in a wheelchair. 'It is respectfully submitted that the defendant would be highly vulnerable in a custodial setting. I would respectfully submit that your honour can draw back from that sanction. 'He has no previous like convictions. His original benefits were legitimate from the outset and became illegitimate following a failure to notify a change of circumstances following involvement with the co-defendant in his life. Clearly, there are vulnerability issues in his case.' Lloyd had a series of past convictions for dishonesty offences and theft dating back to the 1980s, although her last court appearance was in 2012. Jeremy Rawson, defending, told the court: 'Her record, I accept, does not assist her, but it is of some age. 'She accepts full responsibility for what she has done and accepts in her letter to your honour that she does have to be punished for that. 'She has personal mitigation. She continues in employment. She is making some repayments. She is working in the caring profession. She has caring responsibilities with her son.' Lloyd admitted a total of seven counts of fraud by false representation. She burst into tears and cried 'oh my god' as she was locked up for two years. Phillips pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and three counts of dishonestly failing to disclose information to make a gain. He was seen wiping tears away with a tissue as he was locked up for 20 months. Sentencing, Judge Simon Medland KC said: 'You have both pleaded guilty to a substantial and determined fraud on the public purse. 'You invented fictitious addresses, used false names, used a dead person's identification and lied about the extent of [your son's] illness. 'In your case, Mr Phillips, you have nothing relevant by way of antecedents, and the amount that you defrauded is substantially less than that of your co-defendant. 'In your case, Ms Lloyd, for over 40 years, you have been committing offences of dishonesty. 'I acknowledge that your risk of reoffending may be low and that you do not present a threat to the public at large, but I have to consider punishment and deterrent. '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.'
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mum bursts out shouting 'oh my God' as her web of lies are exposed
A Merseyside mum has been jailed for two years following a decade-long campaign which saw her invent medical conditions and use three different names in order to fraudulently claim benefits. Angela Lloyd fraudulently pocketed nearly £170,000 since 2012, spouting a string of untruths regarding her job at Tesco, a caravan which never existed and fake medical conditions which she wrongly claimed her teenage son suffered from. The part-time care worker also concocted pseudonyms and used a dead woman's identity as part of a con which saw her partner Lee Phillips net ill-gotten gains amounting to a further £100,000. READ MORE: Why the man arrested in the Liverpool parade crash can't be named READ MORE: Man, 23, scammed out of £10,000 takes his own life A judge told them yesterday that they had acted "for reasons of personal greed" while carrying out a "substantial and determined fraud on the public purse", the Liverpool Echo reports. Liverpool Crown Court heard on Tuesday (May 27) that Lloyd claimed a total of £169,394.15 which she was not entitled to in housing benefit, personal independence payments and carers allowance over the span of 11-and-a-half years. Phillips meanwhile helped himself to £100.980.71 in false claims for employment support allowance, PIP, housing benefit and council tax reduction over a period of around five-and-a-half years from April 2018 onwards. Olivia Beesley, prosecuting, described how Lloyd's con first began in February 2012, when she started to claim housing benefits from West Lancashire Borough Council in relation to a caravan on a site at a "fictitious address" of Riverside Walk in Southport. The 58-year-old even created a false tenancy agreement for the "entirely fictitious" caravan, enabling her to swindle £71,597.16 from the local authority. Lloyd then began making fraudulent claims in respect of Phillips to St Helens Borough Council in 2018. This saw her incorrectly state that her husband required "multiple daily carers to attend to his needs" and used his sister Zoe Phillips' birth certificate to pose as the sibling, whom she falsely maintained was his main carer. She also claimed that she was not in employment due to caring commitments for her co-defendant, which she said amounted to 35 hours per week. However, she was in fact working for care company Hand in Hand Homecare under the pseudonym Wendy Lloyd and at a Tesco store using the name Angela Valentine. This saw her benefit to the tune of £73,085.29 in relation to costs for fictitious carers, as well as £753.40 in carers allowance. From January 2022, Lloyd then began to "invent false medical condition for her son" and stated that he had a carer called Joyce Bibby, a woman who had died before the claim was initiated. As a result, she falsely claimed £9,922.95 in disability living allowance overpayments and personal independence payments of £508.75 in relation to the then 15-year-old boy. She meanwhile benefited from £13,526.70 of PIP "on the grounds that she needed carers to help with her daily care due to her health conditions", again naming the deceased Ms Bibby as her social worker. Phillips also failed to disclose to the council that Lloyd had moved into his home on Birch Gardens in St Helens during 2018, enabling him to continue to claim £13,633.67 in housing benefits and £2,246.94 in council tax reductions on the false basis that he was living alone. The 54-year-old was further said to have "exaggerated his medical conditions, caring needs and capabilities", including maintaining that he was "unable to do anything for himself", in order to pocket PIP overpayments of £32,073.88. Having declared himself unfit for work and claimed to have no other income, overlooking his wife's wages, he falsely gained a further £51,397.13 in employment support allowance. Phillips later alleged that Lloyd "had completed the form for him and had just asked him to sign it". His counsel Jim Smith said on his behalf: "The defendant has a complex recent history of mental health and physical disabilities. He suffers from a functional neurological disorder. "He has a pacemaker with a defibrillator fitted. He is a type two diabetic. He suffers from kidney failure, anxiety and depression. "He is in receipt of substantial medication to treat those conditions and is presently seen by a number of carers who attend to his medication and mobility issues. He appears in court today in a wheelchair. "It is respectfully submitted that the defendant would be highly vulnerable in a custodial setting. I would respectfully submit that your honour can draw back from that sanction. "He has no previous like convictions. His original benefits were legitimate from the outset and became illegitimate following a failure to notify a change of circumstances following involvement with the co-defendant in his life. Clearly, there are vulnerability issues in his case." Lloyd's criminal record show a series of previous entries for dishonesty offences and theft dating back to the 1980s, although her last appearance came in 2012. Jeremy Rawson, defending, told the court: "Her record, I accept, does not assist her, but it is of some age. "She accepts full responsibility for what she has done and accepts in her letter to your honour that she does have to be punished for that. "She has personal mitigation. She continues in employment. She is making some repayments. She is working in the caring profession. She has caring responsibilities with her son." Lloyd admitted a total of seven counts of fraud by false representation. She burst into tears and cried "oh my god" as she was locked up for two years. Phillips pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and three counts of dishonestly failing to disclose information to make a gain. He too was seen wiping tears away with a tissue as he was locked up for 20 months. Sentencing, Judge Simon Medland KC said: "You have both pleaded guilty to a substantial and determined fraud on the public purse. You invented fictitious addresses, used false names, used a dead person's identification and lied about the extent of [your son's] illness. "In your case, Mr Phillips, you have nothing relevant by way of antecedents, and the amount that you defrauded is substantially less than that of your co-defendant. In your case, Ms Lloyd, for over 40 years, you have been committing offences of dishonesty. "I acknowledge that your risk of reoffending may be low and that you do not present a threat to the public at large, but I have to consider punishment and deterrent. "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."
