'Housebound' benefit cheat caught ziplining in Mexico

A woman who defrauded more than £23,000 in benefits claiming she was too ill to go outside has avoided jail after she was caught surfing and ziplining in Mexico.

Catherine Wieland, 33, claimed she suffered anxiety so crippling she was housebound, but the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said it discovered she had been lying about her condition.

The DWP said it found evidence of Wieland, from Goring-by-Sea, West Sussex, surfing in Cancun and visiting Thorpe Park three times, all while racking up tens of thousands of pounds in Personal Independence Payments (Pip) over more than two years.

She also spent money on manicures, tanning sessions and trips to a private Harley Street dentist.

When investigators confronted her with bank statements she told them: "I didn't realise you're not allowed to leave your house", the DWP said.

While claiming her health was so poor she could not cook or wash herself, Wieland made 76 beauty appointments, visited 60 pubs, clubs and restaurants and spent money in foreign currencies.

After her luxury trip to Mexico, Wieland submitted a review claiming her condition had got worse.

She pleaded guilty to failing to notify a change of circumstances and must now repay the £23,662 stolen from taxpayers between 2021 and 2024.

She was sentenced on Thursday to 28 weeks in custody, suspended for 18 months, the DWP said.

Andrew Western, a minister in the DWP, said: "This is an insult to every hardworking taxpayer and to people who genuinely depend on Pip.

"Wieland lied repeatedly, milked the system for every penny she could get and then had the nerve to claim her condition was worsening while she was ziplining and surfing in Mexico."

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