Woman on benefit gave out £100 bundles to neighbours

A WOMAN who handed out £100 bundles of cash to neighbours after landing a £50,000 inheritance has admitted illegally claiming benefits.

Jacqueline Bowers was on income support before receiving the bumper bequest in her mother's will in 2007.

The 45-year-old, from Lochend Edinburgh, gave away bundles of 100 to "each person in her local community", Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard yesterday.

Her lawyer said Bowers had "no concept of money management".

She failed to tell the Department for Work and Pensions about her huge savings and was charged with cheating the benefits system out of 7,794.21. She appeared yesterday accused of knowingly hiding her savings details from the DWP for 16 months between 1 January, 2008, and 27 May, 2009.

She pleaded guilty and now faces having to pay the benefits agency back. But it emerged in court yesterday that she has none of the inheritance money left.

Her defence agent, Gayle Adamson, said: "She inherited the sum of 50,000 from her mother in 2007 and gave out lump sums to a large number of people. She didn't do anything sensible with it.

"There is nothing left from the inheritance, and her only income is around 200 per month in Disability Living Allowance."

Sheriff Celia Sanderson deferred sentence on Bowers for six weeks, ordering her to return to court in March.