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Couple Spent GHC107K To Fly Guests To Exotic Wedding, Guess Who Paid?

Stephen and Tracy Turner (nee Dougherty), from Scholes, Wigan, falsely claimed almost £90,000 (GHC 483,471)in benefits from 2000 to 2013.

A couple falsely claimed more than £80,000(GHC 429,756) in state benefits to fund a dream wedding in Cuba.

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The generous couple spent almost £20,000 (GHC 107,483) flying 20 people to their wedding on a beach in Cuba.

Well… they spent the money, but it wasn’t actually theirs to spend and now the new Mrs Turner is in the less luxurious surroundings. She’s been jailed.

Stephen and Tracy Turner (nee Dougherty), from Scholes, Wigan, falsely claimed almost £90,000 (GHC 483,471)in benefits from 2000 to 2013.

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She had claimed that she was a lone parent with four children, entitling her to income support, housing benefit and council tax.

By doing this she failed to mention she was living with Mr Turner for 12 years, claiming a total of £84,189 (GHC 452,478). Mr Turner didn’t declare his income while on benefits, receiving a further £4,938 (GHC 26,542) .

Mrs Turner, 38, was jailed for eight months, and Mr Turner, 60, was ordered to hand over £4,177 (GHC 22,452).

Councillor Paul Kenny said: ‘This couple lived a lavish lifestyle at the expense of the local taxpayer.

‘At a time when people are struggling to make ends meet, this kind of behaviour will no doubt frustrate those footing the bill. Benefits are there for people who need them, not for those who want to subsidise their income and pay for expensive holidays.’

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