A COUNCILLOR'S wife who is on trial with her husband has emotionally denied committing benefit fraud.

DEBORAH de la Nougerede Sinclair, 50, of Hatch Lane, Chingford, is charged with making dishonest representations on a benefit claim form.

When a benefits officer visited her home in November 2006, she dishonestly failed to declare that her husband Graham had been elected as a councillor and was receiving an allowance, it is alleged.

At Southwark Crown Court on Thursday she said: “It didn’t come into it - as far as I was concerned it was not applicable.

“The form was a separate thing, the allowance was nothing to do with household income.

“It [the allowance] is like a pot of money exclusive for Graham’s use to do his duties.”

Mrs Sinclair said her husband had told her, upon deciding to stand as a councillor, that the allowance would not affect their benefits.

Mrs Sinclair had previously claimed housing benefit between 1994 and 2004, and was familiar with claim forms, jurors heard.

Kevin Dent, for the prosecution, referring to Mrs Sinclair’s need to care for her autistic daughter, described Mrs Sinclair as the “primary carer” in the household, who would have needed to know for sure that a member’s allowance would not affect household income.

He said: “Did you not say to yourself, ‘hold on, all these benefit forms always told us they need to know about any money coming into the household, no matter what'?”

“Did you not say, ‘What if, Graham, you are not entitled to £9,000 a year and still get all these benefits'?"

Mrs Sinclair said: “I had far more important things on my mind , my son has threatened suicide, there are my daughter’s needs, my son’s depression, I am still not over my mum dying, the business was up in the air, everything has fallen apart and I have had chronic health problems.

“Quite frankly I was not interested, I have had more pressing things to worry about than that.”

The trial continues.