0:00:02 > 0:00:04Think about it. What would you do if you had a bad run of luck?
0:00:04 > 0:00:10The chances are that you'd end up turning to government agencies for a bit of help.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12We're very lucky to have a welfare state
0:00:12 > 0:00:15and I think a lot of people don't appreciate it.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20My husband is disabled. Without the benefits system, we would've found things very difficult.
0:00:20 > 0:00:25Here in the UK, millions of us need to ask for help every year
0:00:25 > 0:00:28in the form of benefits, legal aid and healthcare.
0:00:28 > 0:00:33But there are some people who are out there to cheat the system out of as much as they can.
0:00:33 > 0:00:39Benefit cheats are criminals and they should be treated accordingly.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42How are these people managing to get away with this?
0:00:42 > 0:00:46But those people who are trying to get rich from the public purse
0:00:46 > 0:00:48are now being sniffed out by investigators
0:00:48 > 0:00:54who want to make sure that as much money as possible is available to those who need it.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57This is the world of Saints And Scroungers.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04'Coming up, the scroungers out to beat the system.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06'An antisocial complaint that uncovers
0:01:06 > 0:01:09'more than just bad behaviour.'
0:01:09 > 0:01:13What was, as far as we were aware, a fairly small fraud
0:01:13 > 0:01:18actually widened out and it was one of the biggest ones we've ever come across.
0:01:18 > 0:01:23'And those who need a helping hand. A young man determined to put his troubled past behind him.'
0:01:23 > 0:01:28At one stage, I really didn't think he was going to survive it.
0:01:29 > 0:01:34He was utterly terrified of where he was.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Antisocial behaviour can really bring an area down,
0:01:41 > 0:01:45and if you're in a community that's affected by either noise,
0:01:45 > 0:01:49littering or graffiti, then it can drive you round the bend.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53Of course, you can complain to the council, maybe they'll sort it out.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57But then it could sort out a lot more than you bargained for.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02'31-year-old Vicky Cooling moved into the neighbourhood
0:02:02 > 0:02:05'of Cambourne in Cambridgeshire in 2011.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09'A single mother with two children, she rented a three-bedroom terraced house
0:02:09 > 0:02:12'and needed help to make ends meet,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15'so she filled in a claim for council tax and housing benefit,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19'as well as Jobseeker's Allowance.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24'The man responsible for finance at South Cambridgeshire District Council is Councillor Simon Edwards,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27'so he keeps a close eye on those claiming benefits.'
0:02:30 > 0:02:35We have around 63,000 properties in South Cambridgeshire
0:02:35 > 0:02:39and just over 10% of those, about 7,000, are claiming benefits.
0:02:39 > 0:02:44So out of those 7,000 benefit claimants, we get about 50 cases a year that we have to investigate,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48so that's fairly low. We rely on our residents
0:02:48 > 0:02:52to tell us when their circumstances change, and that's where we find most of the cases,
0:02:52 > 0:02:57where people's circumstances change and they carry on claiming benefits when they shouldn't do.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00And it's those instances that we tend to investigate more than most.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04'And when they do become suspicious about a claim,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08'it's the job of Chris Freeman and the fraud unit to investigate.'
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Vicky Cooling was receiving £178.30 per week
0:03:12 > 0:03:14in housing and council tax benefit
0:03:14 > 0:03:18and £67.50 per week in Jobseeker's Allowance,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21which was a total of £245.80 per week.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24'That's over £1,000 a month,
0:03:24 > 0:03:28'benefits Vicky would be entitled to as a single mum on low income.
0:03:28 > 0:03:34'I went along to meet Chris to find out how Vicky popped up on the council's radar.'
0:03:35 > 0:03:40Tell me about Vicky Cooling. When was the first time you heard that name in any kind of connection?
0:03:40 > 0:03:43I picked up on it in July 2011.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47It came up as a result of a complaint of antisocial behaviour at her address.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50When we cross-checked the records, we found that
0:03:50 > 0:03:54while there was a male mentioned in the antisocial behaviour report,
0:03:54 > 0:03:57no male was included on the benefit claim, so that's when we picked up on it.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00'When the police arrived at the property to investigate the allegation,
0:04:00 > 0:04:05'the door was answered by a man in a dressing gown.'
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Why would that be a problem, if there was somebody in the household?
0:04:08 > 0:04:12Well, when the person claims benefits as a single person,
0:04:12 > 0:04:16it's assessed on their income. But if they have a partner living with them,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19then it may be they're not entitled to money they've received as a single person,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22and so we have to look into those cases.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25But then it's not going to be enough just to say,
0:04:25 > 0:04:28"OK, we've got a suspicion." You've got to get hard proof,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31- and that's not straightforward, is it?- No.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33We've got very good investigators here who work very hard
0:04:33 > 0:04:36to look into these types of cases
0:04:36 > 0:04:39and it involves going into financial records, making enquiries with companies
0:04:39 > 0:04:42and anyone else that might hold information that we need to see.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46And we'll look back through those records to see if there's any links to the address.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51'Could it be that Vicky's mystery male guest
0:04:51 > 0:04:55'only just moved in and she'd forgotten to let the council know?
0:04:55 > 0:04:58'Chris and his team started to investigate
0:04:58 > 0:05:02'and the first thing they did was contact the other government bodies who'd been paying out to Vicky.'
0:05:04 > 0:05:07As a matter of course, we contact the Department for Work and Pensions
0:05:07 > 0:05:10to see if they're interested in investigating a case jointly,
0:05:10 > 0:05:15because if one benefit is involved, chances are they'll have an interest in the case.
0:05:15 > 0:05:20So we contact them as a matter of course and explain the circumstances of the investigation,
0:05:20 > 0:05:24and where possible, we do joint interviews and joint enquiries
0:05:24 > 0:05:30to keep costs down and to make sure we cover all the benefits within the scope of the investigation.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33'They had the Department for Work and Pensions on board
0:05:33 > 0:05:38'and now they needed to establish the identity of the unknown man.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46'All they had to go on was that they believed he was living with Vicky.'
0:05:52 > 0:05:57We received information that Miss Cooling's partner had a car
0:05:57 > 0:06:00and the investigator spotted the car outside the address during the inquiry
0:06:00 > 0:06:03and we were able to find out who the keeper of that car was.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07It gave us a name for the partner
0:06:07 > 0:06:10and we were able to then do further checks, including credit checks,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13which we found linked the partner to the address.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19As part of the investigation, we were able to establish that Miss Cooling's partner had a job
0:06:19 > 0:06:23and we were able to contact the employer and find out what address they held for him,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27and indeed, they held Miss Cooling's address as his home address.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31'So they had a name and proof that, as far as his work was concerned,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34'he lived with Vicky.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37'Chris knew via her original benefits claim
0:06:37 > 0:06:40'that Vicky previously lived in the Broxbourne area
0:06:40 > 0:06:44'and was interested to know what her status had been there.'
0:06:44 > 0:06:49Broxbourne was able to tell us that Vicky Cooling had also claimed as a single person in that area,
0:06:49 > 0:06:55that no partner had been declared, and so they were also interested in pursuing the investigation further.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59'Chris and his team had discovered that Vicky's children had both her
0:06:59 > 0:07:01'and her partner's surnames.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04'The oldest was 13, so this led them to speculate
0:07:04 > 0:07:07'that the relationship had been going on for some time.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12'As the net widened, so did the scale of the potential fraud.'
0:07:12 > 0:07:16At that stage in the investigation, we thought that it may be up to about £80,000
0:07:16 > 0:07:20that had been overpaid in benefits to Miss Cooling as a result of this fraud.
0:07:20 > 0:07:25What was, as far as we were aware, a fairly small fraud,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27because it was actually spreading to Broxbourne, as well,
0:07:27 > 0:07:31actually widened out and it was one of the biggest ones we've ever come across.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35'Suspected fraudulent claims at two councils,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39'not to mention her income support at the Department for Work and Pensions,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42'added up to over 80 grand.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45'Vicky Cooling had some explaining to do
0:07:45 > 0:07:48'and it was high time the investigators called her in for a chat.'
0:08:04 > 0:08:08So, what was the situation when Vicky Cooling sat down?
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Well, much like any interview under caution,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14it was a calm and measured affair. We went through the evidence with her
0:08:14 > 0:08:17and asked questions about whether her partner was living with her
0:08:17 > 0:08:20cos we need to understand exactly what's happened and why.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24So you're not trying to nail a conviction here, you're actually trying to establish fact.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27- That's what it comes down to. - This is a fact-finding job, interviewing is fact-finding.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31It's not an interrogation, it's an opportunity for them to tell us exactly what's happened.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39'Vicky wasn't giving much away.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43'As we'll see later, the investigators had to delve deeper.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45'But would she finally crack?'
0:08:49 > 0:08:53'For now, though, it's goodbye to the scroungers fiddling the system
0:08:53 > 0:08:56'and hello to those who we call our saints,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00'people who do everything to make sure that those in need of help
0:09:00 > 0:09:04'who simply don't know how to help themselves get what they deserve.'
0:09:08 > 0:09:12Trying to find a job in the current climate is enough of a challenge,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14even if you've got the right skills and experience.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18So imagine you haven't. And on top, you spent time in prison.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21That's what you call a tall order.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26'19-year-old Jordan Collins was born in East London
0:09:26 > 0:09:30'and he didn't have the best start in life.'
0:09:30 > 0:09:34'Jordan's dad was jailed when he was just four years old.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38'As his mother was unable to cope alone with five children,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41'they were moved into care. Jordan and his older brother
0:09:41 > 0:09:44'were placed in a new home together.'
0:09:44 > 0:09:47They were brought as an emergency placement
0:09:47 > 0:09:49at half past nine on a Friday night
0:09:49 > 0:09:52at the age of four and the age of eight,
0:09:52 > 0:09:54not knowing where you're going, who you're going to,
0:09:54 > 0:09:58when you're going to see your mum again, and they were terrified.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03Jordan couldn't relate to people because he couldn't speak.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06He was covered in scabies and burns.
0:10:08 > 0:10:14I lived with Lynne for a good 12 years, which was a brilliant time in my life.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16I thought of her as a mum.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19It was a family home. It was really nice.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21I grew up in the right place, I think.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25'But for many children living in care,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28'issues from the past are never far away.'
0:10:28 > 0:10:31They've been let down by their family,
0:10:31 > 0:10:34they have been let down by everybody that they've trusted,
0:10:34 > 0:10:36so of course they're angry,
0:10:36 > 0:10:41and some kids find it a lot easier to deal with that than others.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44An awful lot of kids bury that anger.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49'Lynne did everything she could to help Jordan, but he rejected her
0:10:49 > 0:10:52'and instead started to go off the rails.'
0:10:52 > 0:10:57I was mid-teens and I didn't go home,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00stayed out all the time, I'd go camping with mates without telling anyone.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04It got to the point where, er, no-one could really take it any more
0:11:04 > 0:11:06so... I messed it up.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10'Jordan ruined his relationship with Lynne
0:11:10 > 0:11:13'to the point where he was moved into a new foster home.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16'And he continued to make the wrong choices.
0:11:16 > 0:11:21'He left school with just two E grades in maths and English GCSEs.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26'But rather than try to get a job, he started to hang around with the wrong crowd,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29'and before too long, he became a regular drug-user.'
0:11:29 > 0:11:33I met the wrong people. I got into cannabis.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36And that's where it slowly went wrong.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41They thought it'd be a good idea to rob people to get some money
0:11:41 > 0:11:45to get more weed, basically. It was to feed the habit.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47SIREN WAILS
0:11:48 > 0:11:52It was a bit like being a sheep. I just wanted to be with the crowd.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54SIREN WAILS
0:11:54 > 0:11:58After I'd done it, I felt like dirt underneath someone's fingernail, pretty much.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02'Jordan was arrested a couple of days later for the robberies
0:12:02 > 0:12:05'and burglaries. He admitted his involvement
0:12:05 > 0:12:09'and pleaded guilty at court. Jordan was just 16
0:12:09 > 0:12:13'and sentenced to two years in a young offenders institution.'
0:12:19 > 0:12:22There's no doubt that Jordan knew what he'd done was wrong.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26And he found himself in a situation that meant, at the age of 16,
0:12:26 > 0:12:31his life could've been over even before it had really begun,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34unless he could turn things around dramatically.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39Jordan called on the only person in his life he knew he could truly depend on.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46I was incredibly upset for him, because I knew how difficult this was going to be.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49And I felt really quiet angry with him
0:12:49 > 0:12:51for getting himself in that situation.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56And there was one stage I really didn't think he was going to survive it.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00He went through a phase in prison of self-harm,
0:13:00 > 0:13:05he was utterly terrified of where he was.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10When I first went in, it was...
0:13:10 > 0:13:13there wasn't much positivity about it.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18It was just, "Right, I'm going to sit in my cell, sleep, and get through it that way."
0:13:18 > 0:13:23And then I made decision that I was going to better myself
0:13:23 > 0:13:27and I was going to improve my skills in whatever area it was going to be.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30And I decided that it was going to be a trade.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35So I got my maths and English GCSE level two, which was A to C grade,
0:13:35 > 0:13:39which in school I didn't get, and I tried to do my best whilst I was in there.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41'Jordan spent 12 months inside
0:13:41 > 0:13:45'and then was released for a 14-month probationary period
0:13:45 > 0:13:47'under Kent Youth Offending Team.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51'He was back living in care and wanted to get a job, but it wasn't that easy.'
0:13:51 > 0:13:53OK. OK.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57It was just the matter of trying to get a job with a criminal record.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59It was a very difficult process,
0:13:59 > 0:14:04and in some ways, I can completely understand why some people end up going back to prison,
0:14:04 > 0:14:09because of how difficult it is. You have to have really strong willpower to get through it.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12If you go back to the same people you hang around with,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16then there's pretty much a good chance that you're going back inside anyway.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21'As part of his rehabilitation, Jordan took courses run by the Youth Offending Team.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25'They would help him gain the skills he needed to enter the world of work.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28'But despite this, he still wasn't able to get a job
0:14:28 > 0:14:33'and had no choice but to sign on for Jobseeker's Allowance when he turned 18.'
0:14:33 > 0:14:36I was brought up to know that you have to work to earn your own money,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39you can't live on benefits.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44'John Graham, a business development manager from the Construction Youth Trust,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47'knows just how hard it can be for ex-offenders.'
0:14:47 > 0:14:52The trust works with young people, many of whom are on benefits,
0:14:52 > 0:14:56and our approach is to give them the skills that they need,
0:14:56 > 0:15:01both in terms of construction industry skills but also employability skills,
0:15:01 > 0:15:05so that they can enter the construction industry and the job market more broadly,
0:15:05 > 0:15:10so that they no longer need to rely on benefits to survive.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14'As a last chance to get off benefits and into work,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18'Jordan had enrolled on an apprenticeship scheme with Kent County Council.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22'They put him in touch with the Construction Youth Trust.'
0:15:22 > 0:15:24We recognise that young people,
0:15:24 > 0:15:26particularly those from disadvantage,
0:15:26 > 0:15:30need to have that support and that entry-level engagement,
0:15:30 > 0:15:33that initial engagement to inspire them
0:15:33 > 0:15:36to believe not only in themselves but that they have a future.
0:15:36 > 0:15:42And when young people can't find opportunities, often they can find that they start to lose interest.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45'Jordan had been trying to find a job for months,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48'so he jumped at the chance to meet John.'
0:15:48 > 0:15:53I was instantly struck by how keen and willing and able Jordan was to engage,
0:15:53 > 0:15:57and thought this is a kid that we really can help.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00And we were able to identify different opportunities for him.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03'John helped Jordan to gain the qualifications he needed
0:16:03 > 0:16:06'to work on a building site
0:16:06 > 0:16:08'and worked on his CV to make it stand out.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13'He now needed to find an employer that would be the right fit for Jordan.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15'Jay Cross owns his own building firm
0:16:15 > 0:16:20'and had recently joined the scheme as he felt he was in a position to offer someone a chance.'
0:16:20 > 0:16:24Reflecting on my own background, my own youth,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27I decided that the way forward
0:16:27 > 0:16:31was to pass on my skills, pass on my knowledge to someone
0:16:31 > 0:16:33who was willing and eager to learn.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36'But would that stretch to taking a risk on employing someone
0:16:36 > 0:16:38'with a criminal record?'
0:16:38 > 0:16:41The trust were very open with us
0:16:41 > 0:16:45and transparent about Jordan's past
0:16:45 > 0:16:49and we spent at lot of time looking at that
0:16:49 > 0:16:52and looking at the constraints that we had.
0:16:52 > 0:16:58At the time, my company had been registered with Kent Trading Standards as an approved contractor.
0:16:58 > 0:17:04One of the specific areas was the quality of workmanship,
0:17:04 > 0:17:08the background checks, everything that we go through as a company.
0:17:08 > 0:17:14So there was this sense of, "Right, OK, we're going slightly outside our comfort zone."
0:17:14 > 0:17:19That was an issue for us. But we balanced all of that up with personality, willingness
0:17:19 > 0:17:21and attitude to the workplace.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25'John finally had the news that Jordan had been waiting for.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28'It was his first proper job interview.'
0:17:28 > 0:17:30He was like, "Right," and went through the interview,
0:17:30 > 0:17:34asked me a few questions about the past, cos he has to.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36He'd done construction work in the past
0:17:36 > 0:17:41and, yeah, he seemed to engage well with intelligent questions.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43It was a really good interview, actually.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45You don't usually say that about interviews, do you?
0:17:45 > 0:17:50'Jordan had made the right impression, but he had done enough?'
0:17:50 > 0:17:53As soon as we were just about to leave, Jay said, "Well done".
0:17:53 > 0:17:56"OK, you've got the job."
0:17:56 > 0:18:01I went a bit mad about it and, yeah, so I was really happy for, oh, a good few weeks.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04'Jordan did a two-week unpaid placement first,
0:18:04 > 0:18:08'but impressed Jay enough for him to offer him a year-long apprenticeship.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12'He was finally able to come off Jobseeker's Allowance
0:18:12 > 0:18:15'and he's now employed as a construction technician
0:18:15 > 0:18:17'learning all about structural repairs.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22'Jordan's determination and spirit helped him to turn his life around,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26'as well as being able to get the right help when he needed it most.'
0:18:26 > 0:18:30Jordan really deserves the success because he has met us halfway
0:18:30 > 0:18:33at every single stage. He's really tried hard.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38And it is a hard slog. But absolutely, we're all very, very proud of him.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41I'm extremely happy. I didn't think it would get to the point
0:18:41 > 0:18:43where I actually had a job,
0:18:43 > 0:18:46and I'm glad that someone's given me the chance to do it.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51It's fair to say that some people might have considered Jordan to be a write-off.
0:18:51 > 0:18:57A young kid, no qualifications, straight out of prison. Not many options.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00But Jordan's shown that it doesn't have to be that way.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02He's fully aware of the mistakes he's made
0:19:02 > 0:19:05and he's desperate to make up for them.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07He needed some help to do that, though.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12And now he wants to make the one person who's always been there for him very proud.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18With the help that he's been offered and the support that he's been given
0:19:18 > 0:19:21and the belief that people have in him, it's turning him around.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24And I'm extraordinarily proud of his achievements.
0:19:34 > 0:19:39'It's time to return to the greedy world of our scurrilous scroungers.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45'Vicky Cooling claimed to be living alone with her son and daughter
0:19:45 > 0:19:48'and was looking for benefits to help her make ends meet.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53'But after a police officer went round to investigate an antisocial behaviour allegation,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56'her story started to unravel.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59'She was called in to give her side of things.'
0:20:18 > 0:20:24- So she was being cooperative up to a point, would you say? - Yes, definitely.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26She turned up to the interview voluntarily
0:20:26 > 0:20:28and answered the questions that were put to her,
0:20:28 > 0:20:32but she did deny that she was living with this particular gentleman.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55She was given the opportunity to tell us if he was living elsewhere
0:20:55 > 0:21:00- but she didn't give us any alternative address.- So she denied she was living with him,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03couldn't give you another address. Why was that? Did she explain why?
0:21:03 > 0:21:06She said the other address was at a house of multiple occupation,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10so it was a place where he couldn't have his post sent to.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01So it's kind of plausible up to a point.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05- Where do you take it from there? - We have to check out what we've been told,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09and not having an alternative address meant that we just had to look at the evidence
0:22:09 > 0:22:13and the account that Vicky Cooling had given during the interview
0:22:13 > 0:22:17and decide if there was evidence of an offence there, if there was a case to answer.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36'Vicky was right. There was trouble brewing
0:22:36 > 0:22:41'and it wasn't just South Cambridgeshire District Council who were on her case.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46'The team found out she'd also claimed single status in the Broxbourne area
0:22:46 > 0:22:48'from 2007 to 2011.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52'Not only that, the Department for Work and Pensions
0:22:52 > 0:22:55'had also been led to believe she was single.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00'The team had given Vicky a chance to explain, but her story just didn't add up.'
0:23:03 > 0:23:06After the interview under caution, we looked at everything that we had
0:23:06 > 0:23:10and what had been said during the interview, as did Broxbourne, and we were satisfied that
0:23:10 > 0:23:15there was enough evidence to show that Miss Cooling shouldn't have claimed benefit as a single person.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18There was sufficient evidence to start criminal proceedings.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20We decided to pursue a prosecution
0:23:20 > 0:23:25and Broxbourne and Department for Work and Pensions also wished to be included in that prosecution.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27So we passed the case to the council solicitor
0:23:27 > 0:23:33who started proceedings on behalf of us, Broxbourne and the Department for Work and Pensions, as well.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38'The three investigation teams had got their heads together
0:23:38 > 0:23:43'and were now satisfied they had enough on Vicky to take her to court.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46'They suspected she'd been fraudulently claiming
0:23:46 > 0:23:49'single person housing and council tax benefits,
0:23:49 > 0:23:54'as well as Jobseeker's Allowance, while living with a partner.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56'In total, they believed she'd been overpaid
0:23:56 > 0:23:59'by £81,000.'
0:23:59 > 0:24:02It's very important for us to bring these people to justice
0:24:02 > 0:24:07because they believe that they are perpetuating a victimless crime.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10This isn't a victimless crime, it's taxpayers' money,
0:24:10 > 0:24:13and the money we don't collect in council tax benefits
0:24:13 > 0:24:16and in business rates, for example,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19that's money that we can't spend on our residents.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23And if we haven't got the money to spend on our residents, we'll have to increase council tax.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26So it's coming out of the pockets of every hardworking citizen,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28law-abiding citizen in our district.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31So it's very, very important that we bring these people to book.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36'With South Cambridgeshire District Council leading the prosecution
0:24:36 > 0:24:40'on behalf of itself, Broxbourne and the Department for Work and Pensions,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43'the case went to court in November 2012.'
0:24:44 > 0:24:49OK, so you've got your evidence together, you've got your court date. Are you confident?
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Well, yeah, we thought we had a decent case.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55But it was a matter for the jury and seeing what they thought on the day,
0:24:55 > 0:24:58and that's why we put the evidence together in the best way we could.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01Were you surprised that Vicky Cooling pleaded not guilty?
0:25:01 > 0:25:06I was. In most of our cases, the people will plead guilty at the earliest opportunity.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09By pleading guilty early, they'll get credit for an early guilty plea,
0:25:09 > 0:25:11it might mean a lesser sentence. But in this case,
0:25:11 > 0:25:15she was adamant that she was not guilty and that's why we had to go for a trial.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19And for you, that means you've got harder work, basically.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22- You've got to prove your point. - Yeah, we have to put together the case
0:25:22 > 0:25:24to a standard for any particular prosecution.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27In this case, we had to put together the bundles for the jury,
0:25:27 > 0:25:32which is all the evidence stacked together, and also make sure all the witnesses were available for court
0:25:32 > 0:25:36- and to attend for the trial. - So you've got your not guilty plea,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39you've got your evidence stacked together, what happened then?
0:25:39 > 0:25:42We got a couple of days in, and unfortunately,
0:25:42 > 0:25:47Vicky Cooling got laryngitis and couldn't speak and the trial had to stop at that point.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53Laryngitis? How long did you have to wait?
0:25:53 > 0:25:56We had to wait another six months for the case to be put back into the calendar.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58She may have been ready after another couple of weeks,
0:25:58 > 0:26:02but we have to wait for the court to put the case in. It was disappointing to have to wait.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05- So, completely new jury.- Yes. - Start again from scratch.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08- Exactly.- How frustrating.- It was, but it did give us an opportunity
0:26:08 > 0:26:11to have a look at some areas of our case and produce some further evidence
0:26:11 > 0:26:13by the time the case came back to trial.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18'Vicky lost her voice three days into the trial
0:26:18 > 0:26:22'after she'd set out her case, so, knowing what her defence was going to be
0:26:22 > 0:26:25'gave Chris and his team the advantage.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29'And they now had six months to make sure their case was watertight.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33'But Vicky also had time to think. Would she change her plea?
0:26:33 > 0:26:36'She returned to court in May 2013.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44And she knew exactly what she was doing...
0:26:44 > 0:26:48At the retrial, Miss Cooling continued with her not guilty plea.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52The matter was heard by the jury.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56..on a regular basis over a period of years...
0:26:56 > 0:26:59And they decided, by a majority verdict of ten to two,
0:26:59 > 0:27:01that she was indeed guilty on all four counts.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08'Vicky was found guilty of failing to report changes in her circumstances
0:27:08 > 0:27:13'and dishonestly making false statements to obtain benefits.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18'They found that she'd fraudulently claimed £41,000
0:27:18 > 0:27:21'in housing and council tax while living in Broxbourne
0:27:21 > 0:27:23'between 2007 and 2011
0:27:23 > 0:27:27'and £8,000 while living in South Cambridgeshire.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31'She was also found to have been overpaid £32,000
0:27:31 > 0:27:35'in income support and Jobseeker's Allowance.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39'A grand total of £81,000.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43'She was sentenced to six months in prison.'
0:27:44 > 0:27:47It's always very sad when we have somebody go to jail for this,
0:27:47 > 0:27:50but I think that the case has shown that
0:27:50 > 0:27:53when she was in Broxbourne and South Cambridgeshire,
0:27:53 > 0:27:58there was an active willingness to perpetuate the fraud
0:27:58 > 0:28:02and I think that really needs to be punished, and in this case, it was particularly punished.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06It also sends out a strong message, as well.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09It acts as a deterrent to other people who may be thinking
0:28:09 > 0:28:13they can perpetuate a fraud on the council to make more money.