A mum has been spared jail after claiming almost £94,000 in benefits she was not entitled to.
Dawn Hopkins received benefits - including carer's allowance and income support - on the understanding that she was the primary carer to her son.
While her claims were initially legitimate, she continued to claim the money even after her son was taken into the local authority's care in 2018.
Swansea Crown Court heard how the defendant had made the claims until 2023.
This is when it was discovered her son was not living at home anymore, sparking an investigation.
In total, a benefit overpayment of £93,839 was made.
Hopkins, of Wellfield Road, Carmarthen, had earlier pleaded guilty to four counts of dishonestly failing to notify a change of circumstances.
Harry Dickens, prosecuting, said her actions were "flagrant" and "deliberate", Wales Online reports.
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The defendant was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court
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The court heard how Hopkins had expressed remorse for what she had done.
Judge Geraint Walters said "the public are not impressed" by those who deceive the state when it faces limited resources, describing these people as "spongers".
He added that it seemed to him people were living in "entitlement Britain", where people believe they are "entitled to everything" but don't have responsibility for anything.
Taking into account the discount for her guilty pleas, the defendant was handed a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
Hopkins claimed almost £94,000 in benefits she was not entitled to
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Hopkins was also told to complete a rehabilitation course as well as mental health treatment.
Despite Labour having vowed to tackle the country's ballooning benefits bill upon its election victory last year, the number of people claiming Universal Credit with "no work requirements" has shot up.
The bill is expected to hit £303billion this year - almost a quarter of the total annual budget.
The number of Britons who receive benefits which do not require them to look for work has skyrocketed to one million in recent years, according to official figures.
Applicants were able to reapply even if they were rejected numerous times from receiving incapacity benefits, which is paid out when someone's health stops them from working.
A civil servant working for the Department for Work and Pension (DWP) said the benefit had become a "pension for life" because recipients are not required to be looking for work.
The DWP employee told The Telegraph: "They keep going and going. I see cases where people have failed checks nine or 10 times, but they stick at it and then they're on the gravy train."
An applicant's ability to work is calculated through a doctor's note, interviews with medical professionals, and National Insurance records.
But the whistleblower added: "People will try and try again to get limited capability to work because they've got a bad back.
"Once they've got it, they treat it as a pension for life."
"While the civil servant did say the majority of those on Universal Credit were legitimate, they added the loopholes in the system allow people to "see a weakness and use it".