A BENEFITS cheat pocketed £8,000 by claiming he was unemployed, even though he’d landed himself a job, a court heard.

Aaron Hickman continued claiming housing benefit, income support and job seekers allowance after gaining employment on a building site.

He then went on to deceive council benefit bosses when filling out a renewal form, on which he claimed he was still unemployed.

Hickman’s dishonesty was eventually discovered by Southampton City Council, after he’d wrongfully claimed nearly £8,000.

Appearing at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, the 35-year-old was slapped with a community order.

Defending Hickman, Steve Trickler, said his client had originally been entitled to all three benefits while he was unemployed.

But Hickman soon started working as a contractor on a building site.

Mr Trickler said: “He started doing the occasional day’s work on a building site.

“He had thought about reporting it.

“It became more frequent here and there, and then it become four or five days a week.

“Unfortunately he was always going to report it ‘tomorrow’, but tomorrow never came.”

The court heard how Hickman had failed to notify benefit bosses about his new employment, which began in July 2015.

Hickman also faced charges of dishonesty after he lied about his employment status while applying for his benefits to be renewed.

The last false statement was made in October 2016.

In total, Hickman pleaded guilty to 10 offences, including three charges of failing to notify about his new employment and seven charges of making a dishonest statement.

Magistrates sentenced Hickman to 150 hours of community service and a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Hickman, of Dempsey Close, Sholing, will also pay back the money he took via a £15 per week deduction in his benefits.