A woman gave away £138,000 she had inherited because she had animal welfare concerns about the source of the money, and now wants to live off benefits, a court has heard.

Susan Marion, 58, inherited the money from her father, grandmother and an aunt, who all died between 2015 and 2016.

But she considered the money was “tainted”, Swansea Crown Court has heard.

The court was told that her father had kept battery chickens and her grandmother had been a sheep farmer, and she considered both activities to be cruel to animals.

She told the Department for Work and Pensions that she had been willing to keep £11,000 left by her aunt, but then discovered she had once raced whippets, which she also disapproved of.

So she gave all the money away and has now applied for benefits.

Ieuan Rees, prosecuting, said Marion had kept the money in four Barclays accounts and had had “well above” the £16,000 threshold for benefits. But she was said to have kept quiet about the windfalls and continued to claim £18,417 in housing benefit and income support before the DWP found out about her new-found wealth.

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