ONE of two cousins was today starting a five month jail term for his part in an alleged total £38,000 benefits fraud at Nelson Post Office.

Young dad Zubair Mohmed, 27, who worked at the family run premises in the Victory Centre, netted more than £7,100 using benefits books to get cash not claimed, Burnley Crown Court heard.

His co-defendant Fehmida Mohmed, 21, was said by the prosecution to have made almost £31,000 and to have blown thousands on designer clothes and foreign holidays.

Zubair Mohmed, of Blackburn Road, Bolton, admitted theft, deception and asked for 69 offences totalling £7,185.54 to be considered.

Sentencing, Judge Raymond Bennett told him the public must have confidence in the people who ran post offices and those employed in them must know if they were caught taking money they would be punished.

He added the defendant, said to have put his life savings into the business, had been in a trusted position and went on: "It was your job to ensure that proper accounting took place and that theft did not take place."

Fehmida Mohmed, of a different address in Blackburn Road, Bolton, has pleaded guilty to 12 dishonesty allegations and asked for 86 offences to be considered. Her case was adjourned for a trial over the facts after her counsel told the court she was only admitting responsibility for between £11,000 and £12,000. She had no previous convictions and was bailed until May 30.

David Gee, prosecuting for the Department for Work and Pensions, said the defendants worked at the post office with relatives and the postmaster was also a relation.

Inquiries began after a number of relatively high value benefits books were reported as having been lost in transit and were not received by the those entitled to them.

Everybody concerned in running the post office was arrested but only the defendants were pursued. Benefits books sent to the post office by the department had been kept, in effect stolen.

Fehmida Mohmed was dishonest between May 2001 and August 2002 and her cousin between November 2001 and August 2002.

Mr Gee alleged Fehmida Mohmed had spent about £9,000 on holidays in Tenerife and Dubai and on designer clothing and had also gone on a £2,000 shopping spree in London. She maintained nobody else at the post office knew what she was doing.

Zubair Mohmed took eight benefits book home. They had not been reported as lost in transit but were books which had not been collected by the intended recipients.

Ahmed Nadim, for Zubair Mohmed, said he lived as part of an extended family in a large house governed by elder members and some of the important decisions were made by those senior to him.

The defendant had put nearly £20,000, his life savings, into the post office believing he would ultimately become a partner but he worked long unsocial hours and was not rewarded.

There came a stage when he realised the obligations made to him by his elders were not going to be honoured and that he was going to remain in a subservient position. He then started to commit the offences over a period of seven months.

Mr Nadim said Mohmed was "driven," to offend for domestic household necessities and not to maintain a lifestyle beyond his means or to live in luxury.

The barrister told the court "out of adversity," had come something positive and the defendant's brothers were going to return the £20,000 he had put into the post office.