Prison for council trip fraudster

A woman who pretended she had tripped on a faulty pavement has been sent to jail for four months. She claimed compensation for a serious back injury. She alleged that she tripped over a missing drain cover. Fraud investigators were able to prove that she was lying, and that she had really hurt herself moving furniture. The council involved said that taking a tough line on fraud has seen compensation claims fall by 70% from 1,877 in 2002/3 to 559 in 2004/5, saving the council an estimated £3.2mn in payouts.