
A BRITISH great grandmother who claimed more than €40,000 in benefits in the UK while secretly renting out a Spanish villa has avoided jail.
Sally Folan, 63, failed to disclose the property while claiming thousands in Jobseekers Allowance.
Hove Crown Court heard how she and her husband, Noel, a builder, had moved to Spain ‘for a better life’.
They sold their Sussex home in 2002 and bought their Spain villa for €120,000.
But Mr Folan struggled to find work in Spain following the 2008 crash, before the pair were forced to return to the UK and claim benefits.
But Mrs Folan failed to tell the authorities about her home in El Puerto De Mazarrón in Spain.
The great grandmother kept quiet about the property for three years.

Martha Walsh, prosecuting, said she fraudulently claimed £39,462.59 before the authorities discovered she had the Murcia home.
Miss Walsh said: “Her claim was fraudulent at the outset, perpetuated for a significant amount of time and there were a number of occasions on which she could have set the record straight.”
Kevin Light, defending, argued the great grandmother was of previously of good character and had admitted her guilt a the first opportunity.
Judge Jeremy Gold QC sentenced Ms Folan to eight months in prison suspended for two years.
She was also handed 100 hours of unpaid work and warned her she would face jail if she did not comply.
The 63-year-old, from Worthing, will also be subject to a hearing to establish how she can pay back the sum and has already begun paying £50 per month towards it.

- BREAKING: British airline goes into administration with ALL flights to Europe cancelled, cites Brexit as major factor - 16 Feb, 2019 @ 20:10
- WATCH: New Marbella Arena to host string of ‘international artists’ and events this summer after signing deal with global events company - 15 Feb, 2019 @ 15:06
- ‘ABSOLUTE CHAOS’: Ryanair flight from Glasgow to Malaga diverted after violent ‘hen party brawl’ - 15 Feb, 2019 @ 13:37
- War to be waged against plastic in Gibraltar following deaths of ‘magnificent’ birds - 15 Feb, 2019 @ 11:18
- CASTING CALL: US Netflix series to film in Malaga and Marbella and needs extras THIS WEEKEND - 14 Feb, 2019 @ 14:38
- Neanderthal FOOTPRINT found in Gibraltar by crack team of British and Spanish scientists - 14 Feb, 2019 @ 14:08
- Elderly couple discover multiple sets of human remains in newly bought home on Spain’s Costa del Sol - 14 Feb, 2019 @ 13:27
- ANOTHER bank leaves Gibraltar ‘thanks to Brexit’ as opposition party calls on government to encourage big businesses to stay on the Rock - 13 Feb, 2019 @ 17:53
- British drug dealer cuffed ‘outside military establishment’ in Gibraltar carrying large amounts of cocaine - 13 Feb, 2019 @ 15:37
- IN PICS: Torching of Marbella beach club – favourite of Pamela Anderson and Eva Longoria – ‘most likely settling of accounts’, police reveal - 13 Feb, 2019 @ 13:20