Before the court was Heather Fairbairn (29) of The Headlands, Harborough, who admitted defrauding the Department for Work and Pensions and Harborough District Council out of a total of £4,811 between March 17, 2006 and March 1 last year.

Mother-of-two Fairbairn was given a conditional discharge for three years after the court was told she had started repaying the cash.

John Kent, prosecuting, said benefits recipients were legally bound to notify the authorities if their circumstances changed and when it came to their attention that Fairbairn’s boyfriend might be living with her, they launched a ‘significant’ surveillance operation that included monitoring how many times his vehicle was seen outside her home, finding out he had registered at a local GPs, and discovering that he had told his bank her address was his. Fairbairn had been overpaid £3,569 in housing and council tax benefit and £1,242 in income support. She had already repaid £300 and was willing to repay the rest of the money, he said.

Mike Garvey, for Fairbairn, said the problem was a lack of definition about what constituted living together. Her boyfriend was not supporting her so she had carried on claiming benefit.

l A 20-YEAR-OLD man who assaulted his former partner told Harborough magistrates he would rather face prison than a lesser community sentence. In court on Tuesday, Liam Martin, of Lathkill Street, Harborough, said he would not comply with any community punishment given to him because he would prefer to put the matter behind him as soon as possible – even if that meant a prison sentence.

But magistrates, bound by a ruling made at an earlier hearing, handed him a nine-month community order. He was also issued a six-month curfew order restricting him to his home address between 7pm and 7am and told to attend a police-run attendance centre for 36 hours.

Mark Williams, prosecuting, said Martin visited his former partner at her home on April 3 last year to collect some of his property. But after she refused him entry he broke down the front door and later dragged her to his car by her hair.

Martin admitted one count of assault and one of causing criminal damage to property valued at less than £5,000, at a hearing on March 13. Addressing magistrates on Tuesday David Rhodes, for Martin, said: “I have been instructed by my client to to tell you that he will not comply with any community punishment imposed on him by the court. He does not want to waste the court’s time or public money.”

Magistrates also ordered Martin to pay £655.15 compensation for the damage caused to the door, £100 to his victim and a £120 contribution to court costs.

l A HARBOROUGH woman was caught with drugs hidden inside her bra while she was visiting her partner in prison.

Officers at HMP Ashwell, Rutland, found cocaine and morphine when they searched 48-year-old Karen Carter, of The Headlands, on October 7 last year.