FOUR people were tracked down and dealt with by their council after committing benefit fraud.

John-Paul Edward Royffe, 31, of Charles B Drive, Watchfield, was handed an 18-month conditional discharge after admitting seven charges at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on April 13.

South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) said he claimed almost £3,000 in housing benefit, council tax benefit and council tax reduction between November 2012 and June 2014 while he and his wife were both in work. He was ordered to pay £350 costs and a £15 victims’ surcharge.

Dale Johnson, 53, of Brookside, Chalgrove, was fined £200 after admitting four charges in relation to claims for more than £3,650 in housing benefit, council tax benefit and income support between April 2011 and February 2012, the council said.

He was ordered to pay £350 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

Lynne Richardson, 59, of Mill Street, Wantage, was sentenced to an 18-month conditional discharge after admitting five charges in relation to claims for more than £6,100 in housing benefit, council tax reduction and council tax benefit between March 2013 and August 2014, the council said.

She must pay £350 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Marie Sambou, 48, of Watford, Herts, was given 90 hours of unpaid work after admitting two charges in relation to her claims for housing benefit in a joint prosecution with Watford Borough Council after Sambou claimed benefits for a property she never moved into in Castle Walk, Didcot, while claiming money she wasn’t entitled to at her Watford address, SODC said, meaning that between June and November in 2013 she wrongly claimed more than £3,000. She was ordered to pay £350 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

The council said that all the defendants will have to pay back the money they overclaimed in full.