[Ammi]

A shameless father is facing jail after he claimed almost £50,000 in child benefits for 11 years after his daughter died.


Jem Bakalej, 56, swindled thousands of pounds of taxpayers' cash in the decade-long scam, in which he pretended to be the single parent of Grace, who tragically passed away in 2001.


A court heard that between June 2001 and November 2012 he pocketed a total of £49,000 in state handouts for his daughter

Prosecutor Richard Dewsbury said Bakalej made a claim for benefits as a single parent of Grace - who was born prematurely on June 16, 2001.


But the child was actually living with her mother in Northampton and tragically died a month after her birth, on July 21, 2001.


At Northampton Crown Court last week, Bakalej pleaded guilty to three counts of cheating the public revenue


Judge Lynn Tayton told him to expect a jail term when he is sentenced next week.


The court heard Bakalej also applied to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) in March 2002 for income support as a lone parent of Grace, eight months after his daughter died.


He continued to claim income support until November 2010, stealing a total of £35,359.64 from the taxpayer


Bakalej also claimed child tax credits as a lone parent of Grace after August 2010, worth a total of £6,806.21.


As a result of his false statements he also received £6,826 in child benefit, which he claimed until March 2011.


Mr Dewsbury told the court: 'The child benefit should have ceased to have been paid the first Monday after the child’s death in July 2001.


'But he failed to inform Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs about Grace's death, and payments continued until 2011.'


Mr Dewsbury added: 'They only ceased when he failed to respond to enquiries from HMRC.'


Bakalej lived with his partner in Northampton and she also received child benefit for their other three children, the court heard.

When interviewed by police in November 2012, Bakalej told officers he had continued to claim for his dead daughter because he 'needed the money'.


He admitted he knew it would get him a higher income and accepted that he was being greedy.


The court heard Bakalej had also applied for Social Fund Loans in 2005, 2006 and 2007 using his late daughter’s details


The court heard he has not worked since 2000 and is repaying the money back at £120 a month - which will take him 34 years to do.


The case was today adjourned until next Friday after the judge said she wanted to hear more evidence regarding Bakalej's child support arrangements.


Dia Chakravarty, Political Director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said afterwards: 'This sad case again highlights what a complete mess our benefits system is.


'The welfare system is a safety net for the those who really need it; benefit fraudsters not only leave taxpayers unfairly out of pocket but they also take away from the most vulnerable in our society.


'There should be much better checks in place to stop people taking advantage of the system, along with strong penalties when someone's caught out, not just a slap on the wrist.


..how a parent could do something like that...