Mother who shaved son's head in cancer scam has £16,000 seized
A Gloucestershire mother who pretended her son had cancer in order to claim benefits is to have £16,000 seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The 36-year-old woman, who cannot be named, shaved her son's head and eyebrows in order to claim more than £85,000 in benefits.
She was jailed for three years and nine months in November.
Now she has been ordered to hand over more than £16,000 within two months or face another nine months in jail.
The woman kept up the pretence for almost three years, starting when the boy was six, in order to claim £85,899.44 in benefits, Gloucester Crown Court was previously told.
She shaved off her son's hair and eyebrows to mimic the effects of chemotherapy and even put her son in a wheelchair while on holiday in Florida so they could jump queues at a theme park.
Now, Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, she has been given two months to formally hand over £16,307.58 to the prosecution or face the addition to her sentence.