Daily Express - 30.07.2019

Daily Express Tuesday, July 30, 2019 7

DX1ST

By Hollie Bone

By News Reporter

Picture: JULIAN HAMILTON

Strictly’s champion

Stacey: I’m so happy

with ‘love rat’ Kevin

McGill yesterday. Inset, footage of her walking

£740k benefits cheat who stole

late dad’s war pension is jailed

AN amateur actress who stole
£740,000 by conning the
authorities into believing her
dead father was alive has been
jailed for nearly six years.
Ethel McGill went to extreme
lengths to continue claiming
late father Robert Dennison’s
war pension and benefits after
his death in 2004 – including
asking a friend to lie under a
blanket and pretend to be him.
The “sophisticated fraud-
ster”, 68, also feigned dementia
and mobility issues for more
than two decades to steal
money from the public purse.
But Department of Work and

Pensions investigators filmed

her walking and even driving

despite claiming she needed a

wheelchair.

McGill, of Runcorn, Cheshire,

hid her face as she arrived at

Liverpool Crown Court in a

wheelchair yesterday.

She received a 70-month

prison sentence after pleading

guilty to 21 offences.

Judge Steven Everett told

McGill: “Part of your problem

is that nobody, including me,

believes that you are ill, and

that you have been putting this

on for years. Your devious

behaviour, with little remorse,

has caught up with you.”

He noted the officials’ failure

to recognise Mr Dennison’s

death for 12 years, but told

McGill “the whole dishonesty

comes down to you”.

The judge rejected a defence

request for a shorter sentence,

pointing out “for 12 years she

received way more than the

average working person”.

He added: “She needs to

understand it’s no good saying

to me she’s in straightened

circumstances now when she

received a huge amount of

money from the public purse.”

Stephen Pendered, of

the Crown

Prosecution Service,

said: “This is the larg-

est case of benefit

fraud by a single per-

son that I have

prosecuted.

“McGill made good

use of her amateur dra-

matic skills by feigning

dementia to succeed in

her own fraudulent

benefit claims.”

She is to be pursued

under the Proceeds of

Crime Act. McGMcGillillyesterd

f

wormed his way into Stacey’s

affections during a sensational

run which saw them win in

December. During a ferocious

video call, he accused Kevin,

36, of being a “slippery snake”.

“He didn’t say a word,” Sam

recalled. “He looked petrified,

so shocked.”

Kevin broke up with his

37-year-old Venezuelan wife

Karen last year. Karen, who is

also a Strictly pro, divorced

Kevin after three years of mar-

riage. The pair claim to have

remained “the best of friends”

since their split.

He was also blamed for singer

Louise Redknapp’s split from

former footballer husband

Jamie, 46.

Kevin danced with Louise, 44,

in 2017 and also partnered

Good Morning Britain host

Susanna Reid, 48, in 2013.

Months later, she announced

her split from her partner of 16

years, Dominic Cotton.

Sam said he and Stacey

agreed to separate after a series

of rows at Christmas – but he

then discovered a text from

Kevin, saying “I love you”.

Stacey later put her side of

the story on Twitter, saying:

“Anyone with any adult life

experience knows there are two

sides to every story. I haven’t

got the time or energy to cor-

rect some of the utter nonsense

I’ve read on here.”

By Giles Sheldrick

Chief Reporter

Champions... Stacey and Kevin with the Strictly trophy, and in action, inset

STRICTLY champion

Stacey Dooley says she is

deliriously happy

with “love rat” co-

star Kevin Clifton.

The documen-

tary maker – who

has signed a

£250,000 golden

handcuffs deal to

become one of the

faces of the BBC – caused a

storm earlier this year when her

professional dance partner

became her real-life one.

Speaking for the first time

about her new relationship, she

said: “Kev and I have agreed

not to go into too much detail

about our private lives because

you can’t really indulge that

and then ask for privacy.

“That’s why we’ve turned

down interviews that have

offered us tens of thousands of

pounds. What I am happy to say

is Kev’s amazing, I’m happy, life

happens, I’ve got an amazing

career and I’m very lucky.”

Luton-born Stacey, 32,

stormed to victory alongside

Kevin in the last series of

Strictly Come Dancing, win-

ning a legion of admirers.

But her ex – personal trainer

Sam Tucknott – claimed she

ended their five-year relation-

ship to be with “rat” Kevin

after a “secret fling”.

In a blistering attack on the

dancer, known to millions of

viewers as “Kevin from

Grimsby”, Sam, 30, claimed he

Old days... Stacey with her ex, Sam Tucknott, in December 2017

Energy