‘Agoraphobic’ woman who travelled world on benefits faces jail

An “agoraphobic” woman who travelled the world while on benefits has been told to expect jail.

Tracy Johnson claimed to be so unwell that she could not leave her own house.

Yet the 52-year-old mother of one enjoyed a “champagne lifestyle” while writing travel guides, cookbooks and steamy novels while falsely claiming benefits of around £50,000 (€60,436).

As well as a four-month stint in India, Johnson enjoyed shopping sprees in New York and Madrid.

A court also heard she spent six months working in sunny Argentina as a tour guide while receiving cold winter payments.

And the day after telling benefits officials she could not walk more than five metres (16ft) without help, Johnson went on a two-day trip to central London.

A jury at Merthyr Crown Court convicted the defendant of 13 charges — including fraud, dishonestly making a false representation, and dishonestly failing to notify a change in circumstances between January 2008 and July 2012.

Recorder Andrew Crabb warned Johnson to expect a custodial sentence.

He said: “A period of custody is likely to follow. How long that will be I could not say at this point.”

The court heard that Johnson, of Frome, Somerset, claimed she had not left Britain for years and her fears and illnesses left her a “prisoner at home". She later changed her address to her mother’s home in Builth Wells, Powys, for the purpose of claiming benefits.