Childless couple claim £125,000 in benefits by pretending to have 16 children

A couple claimed more than £125,000 in benefit payments after inventing 16 children, a court heard.

Heavy gambler David Wilshaw, 57, and his alcoholic partner Nancy Stevenson, 58, launched their four- year assault on the system in 2003 before they were finally trapped by their greed.

At first, the couple legally applied for tax credits for two of Stevenson's real children.

After realising that no one had asked to see birth certificates or any other identification, they made up the names of 16 more children and pocketed £400 each week which they spent on gambling and alcohol.

At one stage, Wilshaw was losing up to £600 a week in betting shops while his partner admitted that she had been drinking at least two bottles of brandy a day.

When unemployed Wilshaw was finally caught, he claimed he had done a 'public service' by exposing the benefits loophole.

The couple will be sentenced later.