Childminder fined

A childminder has been fined £1,200 and ordered to do 240 hours of community service after making fraudulent claims of nearly £24,300 on behalf of three other people. In the first case of its kind, the childminder, Diane Jane Crawford, 34, a mother of two from Hulme in Manchester, was sentenced by Manchester Crown Court after she admitted signing childcare forms for three people when there was no intention of their children being sent to be minded by her. In return she accepted payments of £100 per form. The three claimants were sentenced to 500 hours of community service and...