A NETHERTON mum-of-two who fiddled nearly £27,000 in a rent scam after lying to get onto the property ladder with Dudley Council has avoided jail time.

But 36-year-old Yama Jarju now faces being thrown out of the property in Talbot Road after her fraud was uncovered by a tip off to the authorities

Gambian-born Jarju made an application in 2007 to go onto the council housing register with a bogus French passport and a false claim to have lived in the area for ten years.

She was then offered the property with a reduced rent that was subsidised by the council and she moved in with her mother and children.

But the authorities were then told the passport was a fake and she was arrested by police after an investigation by the council.

Wolverhampton Crown Court was told Jarju maintained she had arrived in the United Kingdom in 2003 but the Home Office could find no trace of her entering the country legally.

Richard Franck, prosecuting, said the council believed Jarju, who had a part time job in a nursing home, had saved £26,623 by not having to pay her full rent.

Jarju, who is still living in Talbot Road, admitted fraud by false representation and was given a 10-month jail term - suspended for 18 months.

James Bryce, defending, told the court her two children were doing well at school - adding: "She knew that if she declared the real situation would have been homeless."

Now Jarju, whose false claims gave her the rights of an EU national, faces being served with an eviction order by Dudley Council.