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A Tauranga Hospital chaplain has been sentenced to seven months' home detention for fraudulently claiming almost $58,000 in government benefits.
Helen Winifred Nicol, who is also studying to be a nurse, received $57,952 by falsely claiming the domestic purposes benefit, an accommodation supplement and a special benefit for almost three years.
She committed the fraud by lying that she was single when she was in a de facto relationship.
The 47-year-old Welcome Bay resident was sentenced in the Tauranga District Court yesterday after earlier admitting one charge of misleading a social welfare officer and four charges of dishonestly using a document. The first charge carries a maximum penalty of $5000 and 12 months in prison, and the second group of charges a maximum of seven years in prison.
Judge Peter Rollo also sentenced her to 175 hours' community work, saying her offending was "theft from the community" and at the serious end of the scale.
Judge Rollo refused to relax her sentence to allow her to attend her bachelor of nursing classes. He did, however, agree to defer Nicol's home detention until Tuesday, after her lawyer, Tony Balme, said she was scheduled to act as a celebrant at a wedding today.
Nicol had no previous convictions and Judge Rollo said her criminal behaviour was at odds with her service to the community. She had been spoken of highly as a carer in letters of support from people who knew her.
Nicol first applied for a domestic purposes benefit and accommodation supplement in June 2004, and was also granted a special benefit in October that year. She had resumed a relationship with her partner, Andrew John Langford, in July 2004 but failed to inform the Ministry of Social Development of her change in circumstances.
Nicol has repaid $20,000 of the stolen money with the help of Mr Langford, but Judge Rollo said her partner, too, had been a recipient of the fraudulently obtained funds.
Mr Balme said Nicol had committed the fraud because of "family and financial pressures".
