A woman with a £27,000 salary lied about having a job so she could claim thousands of pounds in benefits.

Katherine Couper had well paid jobs at Exeter University and Devon Waste Management but was paid almost £17,000 in employment support allowance because she claimed to be too ill to work.

She needed the money because she had an abusive junkie boyfriend who forced her to hand over cash so he could support his drug habit.

Couper, aged 35, of Dunsford, admitted four counts of dishonestly failing to notify a change of circumstances and was jailed for five months, suspended for two years and ordered to pay £250 costs by Recorder Mr Andrew Oldland, QC, at Exeter Crown Court.

He told her: "You were working full time in a job earning nearly £28,000 a year and your dishonest failure to disclose this to various agencies led to a loss of almost £17,000 to them over two years.

"I am just able to suspend the sentence because of your mental health problems and I accept you have been subjected to a degree of domestic violence over the years."

Jonathan Barnes, prosecuting, said Couper claimed means-tested Employment Support Allowance, housing and council tax benefits from November 2011 to November 2013 when she was working and had been overpaid £16,798.73.

He said she worked at a pub in Essex for three weeks and then moved to Devon, where she worked as a waste and recycling supervisor at Exeter University and for Devon Waste Management.

When she was caught she told investigators she thought the payments would be stopped or reduced automatically because she was on PAYE and paying National Insurance.

Paul Dentith, mitigating, said the offences took place at a time when Couper was under great strain because of an abusive relationship with a drug user whose demands for cash had driven her deep into debt.

He said she suffered from mobility problems and was also on medication for depression and anxiety. She moved from Essex to Exeter to escape the relationship but her partner found her and carried on abusing her.

Mr Dentith said: ’She was in a long-term relationship with a man who was responsible for a significant degree of violence including stabbing her in the face and putting a shotgun through her father’s letterbox."

He said he was eventually removed from her home by the police and is currently being detained under the mental health act. She is repaying the money at £300 a month.