An Evri delivery driver who falsely claimed benefits to the tune of almost a quarter of a million pounds despite earning more than £400,000 has been jailed.
Paul Churchman not only lied about his job and health state – claiming he struggled to bend over and walk more than 20 metres without “agonising pain” – but also embroiled his wife, Gemma, into his deceitful criminality.
Maidstone Crown Court heard that for 11 years, between January 2013 and January 2024, the Sevenoaks couple received a staggering £235,177 in payments they were not entitled to receive.
This sum consisted of housing benefit to the tune of approximately £105,786, income support totalling almost £45,411, as much as £38,404 in personal independence payment (PIP), universal credit of £24,562, a little under £9,589 in jobseekers’ allowance, £8,081 in employment and support allowance (ESA) and a council tax reduction of just over £3,340.
In that same period, Paul Churchman was paid £402,983 for his work as a self-employed courier.
But to date, the 49-year-old and his 42-year-old wife have repaid just £3,500, with a payment plan set up at the rate of £250 a month.
At their sentencing hearing yesterday (August 27), a judge told the pair they had swindled “every tax payer, council tax payer and business tax payer” through their dishonesty.
Furthermore, the court was told Paul Churchman had committed similar offences in the past, and in 2010 – had been jailed for 15 months for stealing from an employer.
But while he is now starting another spell behind bars for what the prosecution described as a “campaign of benefit fraud”, Gemma Churchman was spared immediate custody.
It was not said how their offending came to light, but in urging that they both be allowed to walk free with suspended sentences, their lawyer Nadia Semlali described how the couple had acted “out of desperation” while struggling to “make ends meet” and keep a roof over their children’s heads.
Paul Churchman pleaded guilty to three offences of failing to notify a change in circumstances, two of making a dishonest representation to obtain benefit, one of fraud and one of making a false representation to obtain benefit.
Gemma Churchman admitted two offences of failing to notify a change in circumstances, one of making a dishonest representation to obtain benefit, one of fraud and one of making a false representation to obtain benefit.
Prosecutor Keira Vinall detailed how “notwithstanding Mr Churchman’s income”, the husband and wife made “several claims for different sums of social security benefit” which resulted in payments they were not entitled to receive.
Some of their dishonesty related to lying about him not having a job or not declaring that he was working.
It was in respect of his fraudulent claim for ESA and PIP that Paul Churchman, who lived with his wife and children in Swanzy Road, faked details of his poor health, the court was told.
“While claiming ESA, he also made a dishonest representation when applying for personal independence payment, and in the course of his application he represented that despite his employment, his wife prepared his meals because he could not bend over to get pots and pans from the cupboard,” said Ms Vinall.
“In relation to personal care, he said he needed help getting in and out of the bath and on some days he said his back seized up such that he needed help going to the toilet and struggled to walk 10 to 20 metres without the movement bringing on agonising pain.
“All of those representations were untrue and contributed to payments in personal independence allowance of £38,404.”
Ms Vinall also told the hearing that Paul Churchman had “many opportunities to correct the claims” but chose not to, and then involved his wife in his illicit enterprise.
“On November 9, 2015, she filled out a claim for income support and represented that he did not have a job, either paid or unpaid, and this resulted in them receiving income support in the sum of £45,410.83 between November 2015 and March 2022,” she explained.
“They were not entitled to such support.”
In applying for universal credit and to Sevenoaks District Council for a reduction in their council tax bill, Gemma Churchman stated her husband was neither employed nor self-employed.
She later told the authorities the claims were not fraudulent from the outset, while Paul Churchman, who has 11 previous convictions for 27 offences, took responsibility for their dishonesty.
Ms Semlali, defending the couple, told the court Paul Churchman was not working when the first benefit claim was made but thereafter the fraudulent applications were the result of “being in substantial debt”.
“The defendants were in a dire situation. They make no excuse for their actions….and fully accept their roles. They are deeply remorseful and ashamed,” she said.
Referring to the family’s financial state, the barrister continued: “At the time of these offences they couldn’t make ends meet and this is what resulted in their desperation to have assistance in having a roof over their heads and over their children.
“They were losing their home, they had bailiffs knocking at their door because of all the debt incurred.
“They know he was earning and that by deceiving the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions), it is a very serious offence.
“However, the money he was earning was to make ends meet and to pay back some of the debt they had incurred. It was an act of desperation.”
Having informed the court that a “substantial amount” had since been repaid, Ms Semlali confirmed a repayment of £3,500 to Sevenoaks council after the judge, Recorder Matthew Hellens, asked for a figure.
“They are really trying to turn their life around and refrain from this kind of behaviour. Their children are their paramount consideration,” added the lawyer.
“She has learnt her lesson and he feels very guilty for what he has involved her in and the potential jeopardy they now both face.”
Ms Semlali also argued that Paul Churchman’s diagnosis of ADHD made him prone to impulsivity and acting “on the spur of the moment”.
But in considering the appropriate punishment, the judge rejected the notion that the mental health condition could be “factored into” his offending given the time frame in which it was committed .
“On each occasion, if you were acting with impulsivity, you would have had an opportunity to step back and change what you had done,” explained Recorder Hellens.
“You involved your wife in what you did. She too could have helped you or demonstrated to you the decisions you were making and you chose not to put right those things you had done in the course of your criminal behaviour.
“So while I’m alive very much to the fact of your diagnosis, I cannot see it impacted on the decisions you made that led to the pattern of offending in this matter.”
Furthermore, he said Paul Churchman had abused his position of trust within the marriage by involving his wife, who has no previous convictions.
“Your role was much more serious. Not only did you take from the people of this country a total sum of £235,000, you pulled your wife into criminality,” the judge continued.
“You had, shortly before this matter, received sentences for dishonesty and, it appears, in relation to claims as well.
“You knew with open eyes what you were doing, and it’s one thing to have made the fraudulent claims that you have and be dishonest in the way you have, but to bring your wife into that circle of criminality is something I think you will pay the price for for the rest of your days.”
Jailing the benefits cheat for three years while handing Gemma Churchman an 18-month jail term suspended for two years, Recorder Hellens told the pair: “Every tax payer, council tax payer and business tax payer has had money taken from them dishonestly by you.”
Gemma Churchman broke down crying in the dock on learning her husband was going to prison.
As part of her sentence, she was ordered to undertake 25 rehabilitation activity requirements. She must also pay £1,000 in prosecution costs.
