Newell, Tracey

Tracey Newell was convicted in November 2012 of dishonestly failing to give prompt notification of a change in circumstances affecting an entitlement to benefit.

Ms Newell received a sentence of 18 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 18 months. She also received 150 hours of unpaid work and a Confiscation Order in the sum of £17,637.93 with 12 months’ imprisonment in default.

The CCRC received an application for review of Ms Newell’s Confiscation Order in December 2015.

A CCRC review found that the benefit figure put forward for calculating the Confiscation Order in Ms Newell’s case was incorrect, being £14,412.65 greater than it should have been.

Southwark Council, who prosecuted Ms Newell, admitted that this miscalculation had been the result of legal and procedural errors.

The consequence was that Ms Newell was liable for a sum under a Confiscation Order that did not accurately reflect the amount by which she had benefitted from her criminal conduct.

The CCRC referred the Confiscation Order in August 2019.

The Court of Appeal reduced the Confiscation Order in February 2020.