Former Page 3 model jailed for benefit fraud (From The Argus)

Former Page 3 model jailed for benefit fraud

5:38pm Thursday 11th September 2008

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A former glamour model wept as she was jailed for eight weeks for falsely claiming nearly £14,000 in benefits.

Sadie Collis, 27, and husband Derek Collis, 31, of Broadwater Road, Worthing, were told only custodial sentences were appropriate after they pleaded guilty to joint charges of benefit fraud at Worthing Magistrates’ Court.

The court heard that Mrs Collis - Miss Great Britain Bikini 2003 winner - claimed £13.911 in housing and council tax benefits with her husband over a three-year period, while at the same time they had up to £100,000 hidden in six undeclared bank accounts.

In mitigation, their solicitor Gareth Morgan told magistrates they had legitimately received benefits from Worthing Borough Council to begin with, but their wealth had been considerably boosted by a trust fund that Mrs Collis had received from her late father, and from an insurance payout Mr Collis had received after being involved in an accident.

Mr Morgan said that they accepted they should have then informed the council of their change in circumstance but added that the money was used mainly for everyday essential items they needed to live on as well as to clear their considerable debts.

But chairman of the bench Graham Toole-Mackson said although it was “not easy” to decide what sentences to give them, the fact that they had purchased a £36,000 Porsche and spent £12,000 on a Ford Cosworth meant they should go to jail.

He said: “We have no doubt at all that the custody sentence threshold has been passed in this case because there has been, over a long period of time, a very substantial amount of money involved.

“It was a joint enterprise and as far as we can see there was an element of greed, and we have been very affected by the type of motor vehicles that you purchased on two occasions.”

Mr Toole-Mackson said he took into account the fact that the couple had pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity and have a one-year-old child.

Clutching her husband, Mrs Collis who worked as a glamour model under her maiden name Wigglesworth, wept as the sentence was passed.

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