Interview Under Caution. I feel suicidal please help

[hine moa]

Hey all

 

well i have been to see my solicitor. she doesnt think im mentally fit for the interview and if i were to attend she would like me to say no comment the whole way through. she also advised i got medical letters explaining my condition.

 

she said that i will be prosecuted for the amount but very unlikely i will go to prison as ive never been in trouble before.

 

she also said to me to keep paying the money back as this will look better.

 

she said it will take well over a year to ho to court as they are dealing with this daily. (not sure how im going to cope for so long - she said put it out my mind, easier said than done )

 

ive not to worry about papers as she said journalists are bored of this kind of thing now but only last week i seen two cases in my local paper for a lot less than me. one was for 2500 the other 3500.i realise i dont know the full story behind them but id imagine journalists will have a field day with me

 

i need to wait on there next letter (from dwp) she said they wont rush it on my expense.

 

just feel terrible and would rather say yip ive done a big boo boo here. but i deserve what i get x

 

If you're considered mentally unfit to attend what happens? Do they delay until you're considered fit?

 

I know how stressful all this is, I've been to an IUC and then ended up in court. I held my hands up from the beginning and admitted I shouldn't have had the money but I didn't withhold information on purpose. I ended up with a conditional discharge due to having been depressed since 2007 which is effectively when I stopped dealing with life other than my children and a degree I was studying for, I still have to pay back the overpayment of £8250 but I had no further fine or costs applied to me. Seems the magistrate took on board all my history and was very lenient with me. There's no reason why this couldn't happen for you too.

At no point did any solicitor advise me to say 'no comment' at the interview, I would imagine doing so only makes the investigator more determined to take you to court!

That asides, most LA's have a set figure that if the over payment goes beyond it a person automatically gets sent to court anyway, for instance my LA's amount is set at £6000. Different LA's have different guidelines it seems.

 

I don't think there is anything anyone can say to you to ease your own worries, it is hell to go through, no doubt about it, but one thing to remember is that some of us have survived it, I personally made myself quite ill over it too, just last week my name was in the paper, I wanted to go into hiding. I didn't, I told my children of 9 and 15 myself so no one could surprise them with the news, my family have all been supportive and just upset that they didn't realise how bad I have been feeling since 2007.

It seems to me that the benefits agencies and councils want to make our lives as miserable as possible, so how about we don't actually allow them to do it. We've both made a silly mistake involving money, that's it, we've not murdered or hurt anyone on purpose, beating ourselves up in this way is no good for anyone. The one thought that kept me going was that I haven't murdered anyone, plenty of others have done far worse than me and whilst I might be gossiped about for a week or so by next week it will be forgotten.

Try to stop worrying, don't let this make you even more ill, it's not worth it. ((hugs))

[hine moa]

Hi hine moa

 

As what a sin. I feel so bad they put things in the paper about you. Was it a lot they wrote?

 

I honestly at the time could not see that I was doing something wrong. I know now that I obviously was but at the time I was trying to deal with everything else.

 

I don't know if that was the right advice my solicitor gave me. She was a lovely lady and I cried a lot so I'm glad I took my folder of paperwork and written statement for her to read.

 

She said if I say no comment they have nothing else to use against me but to me that's not right. I'm no expert here and I don't have degrees in law or anything but I always thought honesty was the best policy.

 

I do not have the strength to look anyone in the face and say no comment when I know they have enough evidence to prosecute.

 

How long did it take for you to go to court if you don't mind me asking? I don't think I can stomach a year and a half feeling like I have been since July. I'm going to end up really Ill and if I'm not careful back in hospital. I've only recently increased my hours in work after I took a massive breakdown. I couldn't face another one.

 

It makes me worse knowing I brought this on myself and deep down know I have no right to be worried or upset at what I have done.

 

They wrote more about the other guy that was in court at the same time as me, he was up for less money than me and got off worse than me, then they tagged me along underneath, stated the amount of money and the fact that I got a conditional discharge, they didn't go into huge detail, there were no journalists in court apparently they ring up and get the bare facts.

 

I didn't realise I had done anything wrong, just when they put the evidence in front of you, you realise what a stupid mistake you made. Just this morning on the school run chatting to another mum I found out she too had been court over something similar, just remember you are not the only one. For both her and me the time between interview and court was six months but I know some areas are taking longer.

 

You have the right to be upset, you did something by accident, you didn't do it on purpose, that's the catch, they make you feel like crap because they want to prove you did it on purpose, you have more than enough grounds to show that you did not do this on purpose, its a direct result of not being able to cope fully with life, that's all.