The mother of murdered British teenager Scarlett Keeling has admitted to falsely claiming 19,000 pounds in benefits.
According to The Times, 44-year-old Fiona MacKeown claimed the income support money between February 2005 and March 2008, including during the time of her daughter’s death in Goa.
MacKeown admitted to a Exeter Crown court that received the benefits while failing to declare she had additional income of 350 pounds a month in voluntary maintenance payments.
The charge relates to the three-year period before and just after daughter Scarlett’s body was discovered on Goa’s Anjuna Beach. Scarlett, 15, was found drugged, raped and murdered in February 2008.
Fiona, a mother-of-nine, admitted to one charge of obtaining money transfers by deception at Exeter Crown Court and was warned she could be jailed.
Judge Graham Cottle told her, "You dishonestly obtained at least 19,000 pounds over a period of several years. Notwithstanding you plea of guilty, there is every likelihood that you will receive a custodial sentence."
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