A benefits claimant who fraudulently received about £27,000 has been ordered to repay the money at a rate so low that it would take roughly 500 years to clear. The case highlights concern that recovery arrangements can appear ineffective, even after a fraud conviction.

The repayment schedule amounts to around £1 a week, meaning the debt is unlikely to be repaid during the offender’s lifetime. The article focuses on the contrast between the scale of the overpayment and the small instalments set for repayment.