A BENEFITS cheat was spared a prison sentence yesterday after a court heard it could lead to her suicide.

Jennifer Flatters, 54, pleaded guilty at Harrogate Magistrates' Court to nine charges brought by the borough council under the 1992 Social Security Administration Act.

Gary Nelson, prosecuting, said the charges surrounded Flatters failing to let the council know she was working for a cleaning company and that she had been awarded tax credits - a stance she maintained for about two-and-a-half years.

In that time, she received benefits overpayments totalling £6,684.65 - of which £5,231.44 was housing benefits and the remainder council tax benefits.

Mr Nelson said Flatters, of Mayfield Grove, Harrogate, began claiming in February 2002, telling the council she was not working and not receiving tax credits.

She had been advised to let the authority know of any changes in her circumstances, but did not tell them when she began work in July that year and again kept quiet in May 2003 when she was awarded working tax credits.

David Camidge, mitigating, said Flatters' offending came to light when she went to the Citizens' Advice Bureau to ask for help in sorting out what she had done. He said she started to suffer from depression after her husband died.

A psychiatric report concluded that sending her to prison would be "detrimental to her mental health with a high risk of an attempt to take her own life".

Flatters was ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid community work and pay £125 costs.