Mario Young leaving Salisbury Crown Court.A BENEFIT cheat is facing up to a year in prison, after pleading guilty to fraudulently receiving £27,000 in income support, Salisbury Crown Court heard on Friday.

Mario Young (38) claimed handouts between November 1995 and May 2003, despite not being eligible because his savings were too large.

In 1995, Young received £175,000 in compensation for losing his right arm when he was knocked down by a car ten years earlier.

He has received incapacity benefit ever since the accident, as his disability made it impossible for him to work.

But when Young, of Enford, near Amesbury, began claiming income support on top of that, he stated on the official form that he had no personal capital.

And he continued claiming the benefits for seven years, repeatedly declaring a lack of funds, until officials discovered two years ago that he had about £66,000 in savings.

To be eligible for income support, an individual must not have more than £8,000 in capital assets.

Young had claimed he put all the money into investment bonds to help provide a secure future for his four children, and therefore did not actually have the money himself.

And in a twist, Young's defence counsel, Christopher Parker, told Judge Keith Cutler's sentencing hearing that, in March last year, the defendant had offered to repay the money in full to the department for work and pensions.

No proof of this offer could be presented to court but a letter was shown from the DWP apparently rejecting it, instead saying £8 a week would be deducted from Young's incapacity benefit.

As this has left Young receiving just £16 a week since, he now claims the rest of his savings have been swallowed up by living expenses.

But prosecutor Mark Sutherland Williams argued that it was highly unlikely the DWP would have rejected a chance to recover its money, saying it was also strange there was no direct reference to it in the response.

Judge Cutler said he felt he had no option but to postpone sentencing until the existence of the letter and its exact content could be verified.

He granted Young unconditional bail but warned him that this had no bearing on whether or not a custodial penalty would be imposed.

The hearing was adjourned.