Benefit cheat mother invented seven children in just 18 months

So benefits staff were happy to provide support for Victoria Young in raising babies Kier, Kie, Kyla and Conrad.

There was just one problem - none of them existed.

Even when she claimed to have had a fifth child - Kacey - a mere eight months later and then a sixth - Kelsey - the week after that, her payments were upped accordingly.

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But the 25-year- old from Lancaster Road in Irlam, Greater Manchester, finally pushed her luck too far when she rang the tax credit helpline to ask for money to help with childcare and other costs for baby number seven - Jake - a further ten months down the line.

Alarm bells started ringing at the office and fraud investigators visited her home.

Instead of finding a house full of babies they discovered only one son - and he wasn't one of the children she had claimed for.

By then she had swindled more than £40,000 in benefits payments with her bogus brood of seven babies in the space of 18 months.

Ironically, efforts to prosecute her were delayed by the fact that she was genuinely pregnant this time.

Yesterday, however, she was facing a possible prison sentence after pleading guilty to a series of frauds.

Young's concerted but ultimately doomed conspiracy to cheat her way to a fortune began when she informed benefits staff of the arrival of her bogus quads.

Kier, Kie, Kyla and Conrad were registered with the benefits office as having been born on January 30, 2005 - but both the names and the date of birth were entirely fictitious.

They were followed by two more bogus babies - Kacey on September 21 of that year and Kelsey on September 27 - and then the final one, Jake, in July last year.

Anti-fraud teams visited her home and her story was inevitably exposed as a lie.

She was arrested last December, but investigators were unable to interview her formally until March this year because she was pregnant with her second child.

Joanne Pennington, senior investigating officer for HM Revenue and Customs, said yesterday that Young had considered herself to be above the law.

"The vast majority of tax credit claimants are honest and claim only what they are entitled to," said Miss Pennington.

"But those who think that they can beat the system and gain an advantage over everyone else without consideration or second thought should be worried.

"HMRC will seek them out with determination and perseverance and bring them to justice."

Young appeared before Manchester Crown Court where she pleaded guilty to ten benefit fraud charges relating to the imaginary children.

A further charge of fraudulently claiming benefits - which did not relate to the children - was ordered to lie on file. The court was told that Young had one previous conviction of theft from her employer.

Judge Roger Thomas QC warned her: "You have pleaded guilty to the vast majority of the charges against you. The next step is for sentence to be considered.

"There is a lot of overpayment on the face of it and it looks like a very deliberate deception to obtain tax credit."

The case was adjourned until December 5 to allow pre-sentence reports to be compiled before Young is sentenced.