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."
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.
