9:35am Wednesday 25th May 2011
A clinically obese benefit fraud suspect who feared she was too fat to get into court has had her case adjourned.
Beverley Douglas told court staff she could not climb the narrow stairs to get into the dock at Inner London Crown Court for her hearing on May 18.
The 43-year-old, from Thornton Heath, is accused of conning thousands of pounds in benefits while working as a bus driver and CCTV operator.
Miss Douglas had to sit outside the courtroom while Judge Roger Chapple agreed to adjourn the hearing, which is understood to have been rearranged for a more accessible courtroom.
But her lawyer Andy Floyd, who represented her in court while she sat in the waiting area outside, said the issue of her size was never discussed in court.
He said: “Her case was adjourned, but it wasn’t adjourned because she was too fat.
“It was just because there are going to be negotiations between the defence and the Department for Work and Pensions.
“She is quite large but it wasn’t necessarily the case that she couldn’t get in.
“I’m concerned it has just been blown a little bit out of proportion.”
Miss Douglas faces a total of 13 charges of claiming income support, housing and council tax while working between March 2004 and February 2009.
She is due to appear at the same court on July 7.
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