A mother has been jailed after forcing her two young children to undergo invasive surgery so she could claim £375,000 in benefits. The woman, from Croydon, was convicted of child cruelty and fraud at Croydon Crown Court on Monday and was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail.
The 48-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, subjected her children to unnecessary medical examinations, medicine and surgery for at least ten years.
The court heard how she told medical professionals her children had asthma, autism, urology problems and gastric complications, causing them both to undergo surgery to have gastronomy tubes fitted despite being able to eat normally.
