A DIVORCEE who swindled more than £23,000 in benefits to help pay for her three sons' private educations has been spared jail after she borrowed money to repay the debt.

Adrienne McCrai used the money to fund after-school and summer holiday activities such as tennis lessons, trips, rowing and rugby coaching for the three teenagers.

A court heard yesterday that McCrai said she was sending the boys to Hurworth House School, near Darlington, for the extra tuition after they finished their studies at Yarm School.

But the con was discovered when an investigation showed Hurworth House did not offer such activities and the £225 a week McCrai was claiming was fraudulent, even though the boys did receive the tuition elsewhere.

McCrai told investigators she had been naive, but insisted that because the money was going towards her sons' educations, her claim for support was legitimate.

Joanne Kidd, in mitigation, said: "The claim was filled in at a time when she genuinely was seeking tax credits in respect of after-school child care for her three sons. The irony is, of course, that she was entitled to claim those sums if they had gone to an Ofsted-registered education provider."

Miss Kidd said: "This is not a case where she made up identities, used forged documents or continued to maintain a sophisticated fraud. Neither can it be said that she has gained from the money to provide herself with an extravagant lifestyle."

Judge Peter Armstrong imposed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered McCrai to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the community and pay £300 costs.

Teesside Crown Court heard how McCrai borrowed the money to pay back the Government from a family member, but has to re-mortgage her home to repay her relative.

McCrai, of Hambleton Gate, Stokesley, North Yorkshire, admitted three charges of fraudulent activity to obtain tax credit between February 2003 and July 2005.

Miss Kidd told the court that McCrai was highly-valued in her job in education and that her employers had stood by her during the HM Customs inquiry and criminal proceedings.

But she said: "Everyone with whom she comes into contact will know she is now branded a common thief.

"She is a woman who maintains extremely high standards in her personal, professional and family life and for such a woman, this humiliation is real."