A Medway woman used her sister’s identity to help her falsely claim more than £20,000 in benefits, a court heard.

Alison Gray, 46, of Darnley Road, Strood, received housing, council tax and incapacity benefit, as well as disability living allowance, while working for the cleaning company supervisor at Oakwood Park Grammar School in Maidstone.

Her original claim to Medway Council in 2000 was genuine, as was her claim to the Department of Work and Pensions in 2002.

But Maidstone Crown Court heard on Friday how she deliberately defrauded the state over a two-year period when she started working for a cleaning company and failed to inform the authorities of her change in circumstances.

Alison Gray admitted three offences of failing to give notification of a change in circumstances between June 2004 and October 2006, three offences of false representation in October 2005, December 2005 and May 2006, false accounting in November 2005 and using a false instrument in January 2006.

She received a suspended nine month jail sentence and ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work.

For full report see Monday's print edition of the Medway Messenger.