Mum Lucy Eyre squandered the money she stole off the DWP in online casinos
12:03, 09 Jun 2026Updated 12:31, 09 Jun 2026
Lucy Eyre outside court(Image: Cavendish Press (Manchester) LTD)
A mum who carried on cashing her dead stepfather’s state pension for three years so she could fund a 30 year addiction to gambling has been spared jail.
Lucy Eyre, 51, pocketed more than £58,000 in pension and Personal Independent Payments (PIP) after she failed to register the death of retired nurse Bob Byast with the Department of Work and Pensions.
A court heard Eyre, a recruitment consultant, had developed a severe gambling habit after playing bingo when she was in her 20s. She squandered the stolen money in online casinos before she was caught in 2024 following an anonymous tip-off to the DWP.
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Inquiries revealed Eyre, from Townfields, Knutsford, Cheshire, would wait for payments to land in Mr Byast’s bank account before she transferred them to her own accounts – sometimes on the same day. Among the illegal handouts she fielded were her dead stepfather’s winter fuel payments.
At Chester Crown Court, Eyre faced four years jail under sentencing guidelines after she admitted cheating the public revenue. However, she was sentenced to 21 months in custody suspended for two years after she argued a prison term would cause ‘significant suffering” to her 18 year daughter who has Down Syndrome.
Although she offered to repay all the money at a rate of £100 per month, which would have taken almost 60 years, no compensation order was made against her as a judge feared it would tempt her to reoffend.
Currently she has a county court judgement against her for a £5,000 debt and is now paying £800 in rent, rather than £400, due to being in arrears.
Scam began after step-dad’s death
The scam began after widowed Mr Byast, who was in his 70s, died in May 2021.
Prosecutor Miss Sarah Badrawy said: “The defendant was Mr Byast’s next of kin but did not report his death to the DWP and therefore did not cancel payments for his state pension or PIP – so those payments continued to be paid into Mr Bylast’s bank account.
“Records show that later the same day, or a few days shortly after it was received into Mr Byast’s account, money was then transferred to one of the defendant’s bank accounts.
”Analysis of the accounts shows the money was used to purchase personal items and online gambling. The total over-payment was £58,095.87 over a little over three years. From the state pension that was £29,959.80 and PIP £26,606.07. There was just over £1,500 combined from Christmas bonuses and the winter fuel allowance.”
Lucy Eyre carried on cashing her dead stepfather’s state pension for three years so she could fund a 30 year addiction to gambling(Image: Cavendish Press (Manchester) LTD)
The court heard fraud investigations were also carried out in relation to Mr Byast’s private pension but no charges will be brought.
In mitigation defence barrister John Bottomley said: ”The defendant was in the grip of powerful gambling addiction which blinkered her.
”She started gambling 30 years ago in the bingo hall but it then escalated during a period of acute grief when she lost her mother, who died of cancer due to a diagnosis not expected, and then the deaths of her natural father and her stepfather within a close period.
”Addicts sometimes need to reach rock bottom before they can change and being arrested and taken to the cells was her rock bottom. She was then signposted to the relevant organisations to address her problems and she has fully embraced that.”
Mr Bottomley added: ”Yes, there has been a personal benefit, nearly £60,000 the state has lost – but she has not spent that on a luxury lifestyle. It has not provided her with holidays in the Maldives, or designer handbags, or spent on enjoying herself.
“What do you have is a woman at night on the phone addicted to gambling and those funds have fed that addiction.
”In terms of remorse, all the references show she does not seek to try to excuse or minimise her behaviour. She is described as being angry at herself for allowing this to happen. She was deeply remorseful in the police interview and has been frank with colleagues and the court.
”The defendant has caring responsibilities for her daughter who has Down’s syndrome and who has additional needs. The defendant’s care and dedication to her daughter has been attested to by many people and she will significantly suffer if her mother is taken into custody. There would be a significant detrimental impact on her.”
‘This was greed, not need’
Eyre was also ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work, 10 rehabilitation activity days and a 12-month mental health treatment requirement.
Judge Michael Leeming told her: ”This was greed, not need, that motivated your offending. Seemingly you were under a great deal of stress and gambling in part alleviated that stress, but lots of people suffer from personal tragedy – that does not give them the green light to commit offences.
“You also should have thought about your daughter before you started behaving in this way. It is not a breach of her human rights to send her mum to prison in circumstances such as this – so please do not think it gives you some sort of passport to get out of an immediate custodial sentence.
”But you have made attempts to engage and deal with the gambling addiction that has troubled you for many many years and I have read your letter to me in which you apologise for your behaviour.
”Seemingly you are prepared to offer £100 a month to pay back £58,000 but that would take literally decades at that rate to pay that off and I am conscious that a compensation order should not provide a temptation to offend further. It is only going to add to your problems and you have enough problems as it is.”