{"id":34370,"date":"2019-03-05T16:39:28","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T16:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?p=34370"},"modified":"2019-03-05T16:39:28","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T16:39:28","slug":"former-teacher-became-benefits-cheat-after-falling-on-hard-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/former-teacher-became-benefits-cheat-after-falling-on-hard-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Former teacher became benefits cheat after falling on hard times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/s0.geograph.org.uk\/geophotos\/03\/91\/67\/3916718_1e319fdb.jpg\" alt=\"Image result for cardiff magistrates\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/s0.geograph.org.uk\/geophotos\/03\/91\/67\/3916718_1e319fdb.jpg\" alt=\"Image result for cardiff magistrates\" \/><\/noscript><br \/>\nA FORMER teacher who failed to declare his work pension while also claiming benefits at the same time has been handed a 12-month suspended sentence.<br \/>\nAlexander Leckey, 60, of Wyeverne Road, Cathays, Cardiff claimed \u00a323,715 between May 2013 and February 2017.<br \/>\nHe was charged with failing to state a change in circumstance with benefits and not notifying the Department of Work and Pensions about his work pension.<br \/>\nLeckey, who appeared at Cardiff Magistrates Court today, had been a teacher for 20 years but had fallen on hard times, resorting to gambling and heavy drinking, the court heard.<br \/>\nThe court was told he had a legitimate claim to the pension after retiring due to ill-health but then began failing to declare it as an income.<br \/>\nLeckey who had pleaded guilty prior to today was described as naive and he admitted he had been complacent with the money he was receiving.<br \/>\nDescribed as living alone and having to depend on alcohol, the defence said the 60-year-old was: \u201cA good character who in 2004 has suffered a broken leg which led to him contracting MRSA that led on to further health problems.\u201d<br \/>\nA report which was given in court said Leckey has to use a mobility scooter because of his bad-health which he said contributed to his fast-paced lifestyle where he would drink over 40 pints in a weekend.<br \/>\nWithout the ability to work he has to rely on socialising on the weekend and would often feel \u201cbored\u201d the court heard.<br \/>\nThe judge who considered his good character gave Leckey a 12-month suspended term after considering all options.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A FORMER teacher who failed to declare his work pension while also claiming benefits at the same time has been handed a 12-month suspended sentence. Alexander Leckey, 60, of Wyeverne Road, Cathays, Cardiff claimed \u00a323,715 between May 2013 and February 2017. He was charged with failing to state a change in circumstance with benefits and not notifying the Department of Work and Pensions about his work pension. Leckey, who appeared at Cardiff Magistrates Court today, had been a teacher for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":34374,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,113],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-34370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cathays","category-uncategorised"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former teacher became benefits cheat after falling on hard times - The Cardiffian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/03\/05\/former-teacher-became-benefits-cheat-after-falling-on-hard-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former teacher became benefits cheat after falling on hard times - The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A FORMER teacher who failed to declare his work pension while also claiming benefits at the same time has been handed a 12-month suspended sentence. Alexander Leckey, 60, of Wyeverne Road, Cathays, Cardiff claimed \u00a323,715 between May 2013 and February 2017. He was charged with failing to state a change in circumstance with benefits and not notifying the Department of Work and Pensions about his work pension. 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