Benefit cheat who claimed anxiety left her housebound caught ziplining and surfing in Mexico

A benefit cheat who defrauded more than £23,000 by claiming she was too ill to go outside was caught surfing and ziplining in Mexico.

Catherine Wieland, 33, claimed her anxiety was so severe it left her housebound.

But the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said it discovered she had been lying about her condition.

The DWP said it found evidence of Wieland, from Goring-by-Sea, West Sussex, surfing in Cancun and visiting Thorpe Park three times while earning tens of thousands of pounds in Personal Independence Payments (Pip) over more than two years.

It added she had also spent money from her disability benefits on manicures, tanning sessions and trips to a private Harley Street dentist.

According to the DWP, when investigators confronted her with bank statements, she told them: "I didn't realise you're not allowed to leave your house."

Despite claiming her health was so bad she could not cook or wash herself, Wieland made 76 beauty appointments, visited 60 pubs, clubs and restaurants, and spent money in foreign currencies.

Then following her luxury Mexico trip, she submitted a review claiming her condition had got worse.

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Wieland pleaded guilty to failing to notify a change of circumstances and must now repay the £23,662 stolen from taxpayers between 2021 and 2024.

At Lewes Crown Court on Thursday, she was sentenced to 28 weeks in custody, suspended for 18 months.

DWP minister, Andrew Western, said after the hearing: "This is an insult to every hardworking taxpayer and to people who genuinely depend on Pip.

"Wieland lied repeatedly, milked the system for every penny she could get and then had the nerve to claim her condition was worsening while she was ziplining and surfing in Mexico.

"We are committed to finding those who try to defraud taxpayers, and they will face the consequences."

(c) Sky News 2026: Benefit cheat who claimed anxiety left her housebound caught ziplining and surfing in Mexico