A SOCIAL worker falsely obtained £66,000 from his employers in six months by claiming he was working up to 28 hours a day, a court has heard.

Jaswinder Bains, 45, put in the blatantly dishonest claims to help pay for his £5,000 a month mortgage on a luxury farmhouse, Winchester Crown Court heard.

Andrew Macfarlane, prosecuting, said Bains, from Wanborough, near Swindon, worked in family courts looking after the interests of children involved in care and adoption proceedings.

But from November 2002 until April 2003 he allegedly made massive claims for work he never did for his clients the Child and Family Court Advisory Support Service in Avon, Wiltshire, Berkshire and Oxford.

Mr Macfarlane said Bains, who denies 24 counts of false accounting, needed to meet the payment on the home he bought with his wife Joanna, which is valued at more than £1 million.

The home was so expensive it has the same council tax band as Buckingham Palace, he said.

Bains also had a villa in Spain, the jury heard.

The social worker even claimed for more than 80 hours' work when credit card statements showed he was on holiday at his Spanish villa.

On December 15, Bains is alleged to have claimed he worked 28 hours and 24 minutes in one day.

Mr Macfarlane said Bains said on forms he worked every day of the six months except Christmas Day.

The money claimed gave Bains an annual income of £132,000 a year, Mr Macfarlane said.

The court service did not initially notice the alleged false claims because Bains was claiming to four separate offices but a manager became concerned and Bains was arrested in July 2003.

In interview he denied making false claims and said any mistakes were honest.

"I was working very long hours. I do work very hard and do not over claim," he said.

Later he said his wife and son, then 15, had done some of the work,

But Mr Macfarlane said that his wife, who is also a social worker, had claimed for her work separately.

The trial is expected to last two weeks.

Gareth Bethell