Joan Lesley Clarke maintained she had terminal ovarian cancer for more than three years.
Joan Lesley Clarke faked letters from a specialist at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre A woman who claimed almost £23,000 of benefits by lying to the Department for Work and Pensions about having cancer has been jailed. Joan Lesley Clarke kept up her ruse for more than three years – and even maintained she had terminal cancer to the court after being caught. Between March 2016 and April 2019, she claimed £22,962.
Clarke, from St Helens in Merseyside, even forced the rearrangement of a subsequent interview by claiming she had to go into hospital for treatment. She was unable to provide documents proving what she had told the DWP about her illness, and when investigators contacted Clatterbridge directly, they were told the consultant named by Clarke in the letters had previously retired. Her medical records later confirmed she did not have cancer and had never undergone treatment for cancer.