Mother jailed after claiming for nine fictitious children

Kerry Melia, of Tipton in the West Midlands, swindled £62,243 after adding three fictitious children to her tax credit claims in January 2007, saying they were her foster children. The 30-year-old then tried to add another six non-existent children. When HMRC officers searched her house for evidence of fraud, they discovered exotic pets including a number of cockatiels, terrapins and a large snake, as well as dead mice in the freezer to feed it. Having already admitted to tax credits fraud at a previous hearing, Melia was sentenced to eight months in prison at Wolverhampton Crown Cour...