The Herts Advertiser (www.hertsad.co.uk) has issued the following report:

An ageing 70s rocker from the band URIAH HEEP who "fell on hard times" landed in court on charges of benefit fraud when he failed to declare almost £50,000 in savings.

John Lawton, of North Cottages in Napsbury, St Albans, was, in the late 70s, the lead singer of the heavy rock band who are still big in Germany and the Netherlands. More recently he had formed THE JOHN LAWTON BAND who churn out retro-rock hits on the European gig circuit.

Lawton appeared in St Albans Magistrates' Court last Wednesday with his hair styled in a lurid-yellow mullet - popular with rock stars and footballers in the 70s - to face joint charges with is his wife Iris Lawton. They pleaded guilty to two counts of obtaining council tax benefit by making false representations.They had defrauded St Albans District Council of £1,052.

Low income...

The court heard how the couple, both aged 59, had put in a claim for council tax benefit on the basis that Mrs Lawton was not in work and that Lawton himself received only a low income working as a musician. They described themselves as having "fallen on hard times".

They also told the council that they had one joint Lloyds TSB bank account. However they failed to own up to a Cahoot savings account which had £49,400 in it, a Cahoot current account with £998 and another Lloyds TSB account containing a minimal amount of cash which was used for transactions involving Lawton's band.

The accounts were in Mrs Lawton's name, but during interviews with council officers they claimed that the money in the savings account had been put aside for their daughter after the sale of their house in Hendon.

However further investigations revealed that there had been substantial transactions between all three accounts.

The couple had originally pleaded not guilty to the charges but had paid back the full amount to the council.

Health...

Lawton has given up working as a musician due to failing health and he now claims incapacity benefit.

They were each fined £1,000 which they paid that day with a credit card and were ordered to pay £500 in court costs.

Lawton made three albums with Uriah Heep - named after a Dickensian character destined for prison - before artistic differences led to a classic rock rift and he left the band in 1978.

He has gone on to make albums with The John Lawton Band including one appropriately-titled Still Paying My Dues.