'Greedy liar' owned five houses, caravan and had £85k savings - but still claimed benefits

A woman failed to tell the authorities she owned five houses and a caravan while claiming tens of thousands of pounds in benefits, a court has heard.

Kathryn Llewelyn was renting out the houses and mobile home while pocketing more than £39,000 in benefits, and also had "significant" savings in her bank account which at one point hit £85,000.

A judge at Cardiff Crown Court described the 50-year-old defendant as a "thoroughly dishonest woman" and a "greedy liar".

Harry Dickens, prosecuting, told the court that in March, 2014, the defendant made an application for employment support allowance benefit on the basis that she was unable to work, and that as part of the application process she had to confirm the level of any capital she owned and whether she owned properties from which she was receiving a rental income. The application was successful, and payments started in the May.

The prosecutor said Llewelyn had failed to declare the fact that she owned properties in Porth, Tonyrefail, Tonypandy, and Ystrad, and subsequently failed to declare that she went on to buy a further property in Tonypandy in 2019 and then a caravan at the Trecco Bay site in Porthcawl in 2021.

He said the five houses and caravan provided rental income to the defendant, and that it was the prosecution case that the defendant's application for benefit had been "fraudulent from the outset".

The court heard that after information about the houses came to light the defendant was interviewed under caution and confirmed she had not disclosed ownership of the properties, and said she had since sold three of them. She also made reference to family debts. 

The prosecutor said an examination of Llewelyn's Santander bank account showed she had "significant" savings, and that during the period 2019 to 2020 the balance in the account had varied between £53,000 and £61,000 while in May, 2021, the balance had reached £85,000.

The court heard that between 2014 and 2023 the defendant was paid a total of £39,283 in benefits to which she was not entitled, but that she had now repaid the sum in full.

Kathryn Mary Llewelyn, of Dan y Fron, Tonyrefail, had previously pleaded guilty to dishonesty failing to notify a change of circumstances when she appeared in the dock for sentencing. She has no previous convictions.

Thomas Stanway, for Llewelyn, said his client had been open with the Department for Work and Pensions and had disclosed the presence of a Revolut bank account which the department had been unaware of.

The barrister said his client experienced a "disrupted education" as a result of having to move regularly due to her father's military service, and said she was now in poor physical health.

He said Llewelyn accepted she should have declared the properties to the DWP as she had done to her accountant and had done for income tax purposes.

Judge Paul Thomas KC said for a period of nine years the defendant had claimed benefits she was not entitled to, money which came from the taxes paid by honest people and which could have gone to areas like education and health.

He said while he didn't hold himself out as any kind of expert on house prices in the south Wales valleys, the value of the properties owned by the defendant while still claiming benefits must have been around half-a-million pounds.

He told Llewelyn: "In short, you are a thoroughly dishonest woman. A greedy liar. A benefit cheat." He said he had read character references on the defendant and was prepared to accept there was a "different side" to her when she wasn't being a "conwoman".

With a one-third discount for her guilty plea Llewelyn was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for 18 months and fined £3,000 which she will have to pay in 56 days or face three months in prison. The defendant will also have to complete a rehabilitation course.