Benefits cheat branded 'one of the worst ever' who claimed she was agoraphobic while travelling the world from India to Argentina enjoying a luxury lifestyle is jailed

A globe-trotting benefits cheat who travelled the world while claiming she was agoraphobic and housebound has been branded ‘one of the worst benefit fraudsters ever’.

Former model Tracy Johnson, 52, claimed she was a ‘prisoner in her own home’ and said she was so unwell that she could not leave her own house or walk more than five metres without help.

But the mother, from Frome, Somerset, was actually enjoying a 'champagne lifestyle', travelling the world while writing travel guides, cookbooks and steamy novels as she falsely claimed benefits of around £50,000.

Johnson, who has only paid back £600, was jailed for one year for 13 charges of fraud, dishonestly making a false representation and dishonestly failing to notify a change in circumstances between January 2008 and July 2012.

However, she will not have to pay any more of the money back – as it has all been spent.

Johnson lived it up in a variety of exotic locations including spending a four-month stint in India, which she told a court she thought she was ‘entitled’ to.

Tracy Johnson, 52, who claimed ££50,000 of disability payments has been jailed

She also enjoyed shopping sprees in New York and Madrid and spent six months working in sunny Argentina as a tour guide while receiving cold winter payments.

And the day after telling benefits officials she could not walk more than five metres without help, she went on a two-day trip to central London.

Tracy Johnson, 52, is pictured here at the Salinas Grandes salt flats in Argentina

She claimed she could barely walk whilst she was working as a tour guide trekking in South America. She is pictured here (left) at Ruins of Quilmes in Argentina

Judge Andrew Grubb told her: ‘You spent time in the USA and in Argentina operating a travel guide business and wrote a book.

‘You travelled and lived abroad while receiving benefits.

‘During that time you failed to inform the relevant bodies you were spending time outside the UK.’

Johnson, who was wearing a low cut grey top and tight-fitting black trousers, thanked the judge from the dock at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court as he jailed her.

Prosecutor Joanna James did not apply for a Proceeds of Crime order saying: ‘There is no money left - it has all been spent.’

Johnson was arrested after an anonymous tip-off about her worldwide travels.

Earlier this month, a jury at Merthyr Crown Court convicted her of the 13 charges.

Prosecutor Miss James said: ‘It was absolute, blatant dishonesty.

‘Tracy Johnson was living the life that honest, decent, hardworking taxpayers could only dream of.’

The judge revealed that after Johnson was found guilty he received an email from a ‘person in Argentina’ who confirmed she was working there as a tour guide.

Johnson asked the judge: ‘Who was that?’

But Judge Grubb declined to say because it was not relevant.

He said: ‘Your actions amounted to a sustained and multiple benefit fraud involving a substantial amount of public money to which you were not entitled.

‘There are significant and aggravating features about the case.’

Johnson claimed she was suffering from agoraphobia brought on by post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001 while living in New York.

But the court was shown her personal profiles on internet sites including LinkedIn where Johnson described herself as a dancer, actress, former model, DJ, interior designer and wedding photographer.

She has written three racy novels including one called The Last Tango in Buenos Aires  - some of which were inspired by her worldwide travels.

Johnson lived it up in a variety of exotic locations including spending a four-month stint in India, which she told a court she thought she was 'entitled' to

And while in Argentina she set up her own tour company called Northwest Nomads taking trekkers on expeditions to the country’s vineyards and mountains.

Andrew Penhale, of the Crown Prosecution Service, described the fraud as one of the worst he had ever seen.

He said: ‘Tracy Johnson plotted a blatant fraud against the public purse.

‘She used taxpayers’ money to fund a lavish, globetrotting lifestyle, all the while exploiting a system designed to support society’s most vulnerable citizens.

‘Ms Johnson claimed more than £1,000 per month in benefit payments over five years, when in truth she was spending the majority of her time either travelling or working abroad.

‘Not only did Ms Johnson travel the globe while claiming she was “a prisoner in her own home,” but she also ran her own tour guide company in South America and earned money working as a wedding photographer.

‘In 2011 she even authored a book entitled “Last Tango in Buenos Aires”, detailing her experiences as an English woman living in Argentina.

Johnson is pictured here at the Basalt Cliffs in Patagonia. She was arrested after an anonymous tip-off about her worldwide travels

‘Making a false claim to suffer from anxiety, depression and agoraphobia undermines those who do genuinely suffer from these debilitating conditions.

‘This is one of the worst examples of benefit fraud that we have seen.’

Among the overwhelming evidence prosecutor Joanna James brought before the jury were several posts Johnson had made on social networking sites.

One of her Facebook posts read: ‘I am one spoilt girl. Early lunch in the Himalaya Spa. Lunch here would be two weeks’ wages in India.’

But Johnson told the jury during her trial: ‘I was entitled to a little break. I think I’m entitled to go and sit on a beach in Goa.

‘But you can sit on a beach in Goa watching the sunset and still be in a pretty desperate state.’

She also went on her Facebook page to describe Buenos Aires as ‘magical - like a new lover’.

And her bank statements showed a six-month period where large sums of money were withdrawn from cash machines in Argentina - but not a single transaction occurred back in the UK.

Johnson had claimed someone in the South American country had copied her card - while she had remained totally bed-ridden at her mother’s in Builth Wells, mid Wales.

She also insisted transactions at stores including Ann Summers, lingerie outlet Victoria’s Secret and a luxury bedding firm had been made by her teenage son.

DM