A Devon benefits cheat who said she was too scared to leave her home falsely claimed £130,000 to spend on holidays to Goa and plastic surgery to improve her looks.
Self-proclaimed agoraphobic Karen Trant, from Dartmouth,was jailed for 27 months after pictures emerged of her lounging in the sun, dancing in a club and riding a horse in the Indian party resort.
Department for Work and Pensions investigators discovered she spent up to six months a year abroad in an apartment she bought in Goa during her claim, and underwent various expensive cosmetic surgery procedures including a tummy tuck, liposuction, teeth whitening and work on her 'bingo wings'.
Trant, of Carey Road, admitted three counts of unlawful representation for obtaining benefits when she appeared at Plymouth Crown Court.
Yesterday, her Dartmouth neighbours said it was 'amazing' she got away with so much for so long.
Judge Paul Darlow said: "You extracted from the public purse £134,000 of benefits to which you were not entitled to.
"You did so by misrepresentation from the outset. You chose to describe your behaviour as stupid — I choose to describe it as fraudulent."
Trant falsely claimed more than £134,000 in disability benefits, income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit.
The court was told the fraudster spent up to five months a year in Goa where she bought her own £14,000 holiday apartment.
Speaking about the fraud, one neighbour said they had only recently moved to the property: "They didn't mix with anyone but we knew she was going to court because gossip flies around. I was quite surprised when I heard the details because it was an awful lot of money.
"I saw her out and about frequently and there was no sign she had agoraphobia at all.
"It's amazing she got away with it for so long."
Another said: "The first I knew about it was when I saw it in the news.
"I hadn't seen a huge amount of money being put about. People tend to keep themselves to themselves here. It's amazing what people get up to."
The court heard Trant had split from her husband in 1999 and applied for income support a month later, failing to disclose the large sums she received in their divorce settlement.
After making the first of numerous trips to Goa in 2001, she made more claims for housing and council tax support.
A year later, she made a further claim for disability living allowance, claiming she was suffering from anxiety, depression and mood swings.
The DWP began investigating Trant after a tip-off in June, 2011, on suspicion of benefit fraud.
Prosecutor Sarah Vince, said: "The case concerns claims over a 13-year period of benefits she wasn't entitled to.
"The benefits enabled her partly to enjoy lengthy holidays to Goa and also whilst there she received some cosmetic surgery.
"The defendant cited the reasons for her claim that she was suffering from anxiety, depression, mood swings and temper fits."
Defending, Ms Bathsheba Cassel said Trant had suffered from mental health issues for 30 years which had an impact on her decision making.
She said she was now living with her daughter and living on around £50 a week.
Allan McColgan, DWP fraud manager in the South West, said: "Our fraud investigators have powers to track benefit cheats around the world and bring them before the courts.
"In addition to any sentence imposed by the court, fraudsters must pay back all the money they falsely obtained and face a criminal record for life."
