Fraudster, David Comer, gets chance to pay back cash

A JUDGE put off sentencing a father of-five who fraudulently claimed £24,000 in benefits while earning £50,000 a year to see if he keeps his promise to pay the money back.

David Comer, 50, first started claiming income support, incapacity benefit and council tax in early 2004 but he failed to notify the benefit agencies when he started work as a contracts manager for an electrical firm in July 2005 and was earning £50,000 a year.

This meant that over a 20 month period, Comer, of Mayflower Road, Chafford Hundred, was paid almost £24,000 in benefits which he wasn't entitled to.

Mark Savage, defence counsel for Comer, said his client has since made an agreement to pay back the incapacity benefit and income support at a rate of £100 a month and had already started paying Thurrock Council £300 a month for the council tax.

At Basildon Crown Court today Judge Rupert Overbury deferred Comer's sentence for six months to see if he genuinely intends to repay the cash.

Judge Overbury told the defendant: "People in your position who steal, which is exactly what you have done, ordinarily go to prison.

"It seems to me that in your particular case, bearing in mind you are a person of previous good character, that the public may benefit more by you repaying the money you have stolen rather than my passing any other kind of sentence, which might deprive the public and benefit agencies of that money straight away.

"You have got a job now and you are earning extremely good money.

"You must repay the money you have stolen to these benefit agencies as your income allows."

Judge Overbury also warned Comer that if he had not made regular payments of £400 as promised, then he faced jail.

He added: "If you return in six months time and you have been repaying regularly with agreements with these benefit agencies in place then I would be minded not to impose an immediate prison sentence.

"If on the other hand you fail to repay and you still have this sort of income coming in then I would not be minded to take that course. It may very well be that you would receive a short custodial sentence to reflect the dishonesty in this case."

Comer, who was released on bail and will return to the court for sentence on Monday, May 11, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to three counts of failing to notify a change of circumstances.