AN ALEXANDRIA mum who received £8,000 in tax credits after she falsely claimed to be a single parent has been spared jail after a court heard that the money had been repaid in full.

Abigail Dignon, 28, of Beechwood Drive, claimed the money in working tax credit and child tax credit over a period of almost a year.

Dignon appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court for sentencing on Friday after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to obtaining the benefits by claiming to be a lone parent – when in fact she was living with a man who was in full-time employment.

She committed the fraud between January 3 and December 16, 2015.

Fiscal depute Emma Thomson told the court: “The DWP received information on August 26, 2016 that the accused had a partner living at the property. This was confirmed.

“On September 12, 2016, the accused called at the benefits office in Alexandria where a lead officer interviewed her under caution.

“The renewal claims were made over the phone. When asked if her circumstances had changed she replied ‘no’ because she was suffering from depression and was ‘very down’ at the time.

“There has since been full repayment.”

Though Dignon pleaded guilty to the charge at an early stage, sentence was deferred to await confirmation that the money had been paid back in full and received by the DWP.

Dignon’s solicitor, Scott Adair, said his client would accept a community payback order as a punishment and would be happy to undertake unpaid work.

Sheriff John Hamilton said there was “no requirement” for social work supervision and told Dignon to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months.