A hairdresser who illegally claimed thousands of pounds in benefits for a flat she was not living in has been convicted after a Haringey Council investigation.

Genet Gebremichael, 45, failed to tell Haringey Borough Council she was abroad from July last year and unlawfully received more than £3,200 in housing and council tax benefits for nearly eight months.

The freelance stylist sub-let her flat in Sycamore Gardens, Tottenham, for profit, but her tenancy was ended when Haringey Council and Circle 33 investigators questioned her and she admitted she was living in Hackney.

At Tottenham Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Gebremichael was found guilty in her absence of failing to notify the council of a change in circumstances that affected her entitlement to housing benefit and council tax benefit.

She will be sentenced at a later date.