Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Woman sentenced for benefit fraud

By Court Reporter
Whanganui Chronicle·
30 Sep, 2016 09:00 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Whanganui District Court sits here. PHOTO/ FILE

Whanganui District Court sits here. PHOTO/ FILE

A woman wept quietly in the dock at Whanganui District Court as she was sentenced to six months' home detention for benefit fraud on Friday.

Cheri Anne Mathews Patea had pleaded guilty on July 5 to 16 charges. One was of wilful omission and the other 15 were of dishonestly using a document.

Her lawyer Richard Leith said she had been in a relationship with Antony Patea and they had children together. Then they separated, and had gradually got back together, sometimes living together and sometimes living apart.

They reconciled in 2004, and were now married.

Since 2004 Mathews Patea has been given $91,847.08 in benefits she was not entitled to, the Ministry of Social Development said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Whanganui woman had no previous history of dishonesty and was at low risk of re-offending. She had surgery recently, was wearing an arm brace and could not do community work. Prison is one possible sentence for benefit fraud, but Mr Leith said home detention would be the least restrictive penalty.

Judge Large said benefit fraud was too common. It was very easy because government departments relied on the honesty of people making declarations.

"It was a small amount of money to you each week, but it was money not available for other uses, such as hospitals."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He noted no reparation was sought, and said while on home detention for six months Mathews would undertake programmes seeking to get work and learning how to budget.

The start of her sentence was postponed until October 4, to allow her to attend a family tangi. Ministry of Social Development prosecutor Hilary McKenna had no objection to the sentence of home detention or to its delayed start.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

'Just incredible': Pupils save choking child on school bus

03 Jul 05:00 PM
live
Whanganui Chronicle

Hail, storms hit North Island as emergency extends in flood-hit areas

03 Jul 05:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

'Expand my horizons': Scholarship fuels student's global ambitions

03 Jul 05:00 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

'Just incredible': Pupils save choking child on school bus

'Just incredible': Pupils save choking child on school bus

03 Jul 05:00 PM

The St John in Schools programme taught them vital lifesaving skills.

Hail, storms hit North Island as emergency extends in flood-hit areas
live

Hail, storms hit North Island as emergency extends in flood-hit areas

03 Jul 05:00 PM
'Expand my horizons': Scholarship fuels student's global ambitions

'Expand my horizons': Scholarship fuels student's global ambitions

03 Jul 05:00 PM
Ngāti Ruanui files urgent Waitangi Tribunal claim over mining project

Ngāti Ruanui files urgent Waitangi Tribunal claim over mining project

02 Jul 10:42 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP