Heath Joynson, 45, from Stoke-on-Trent, pocketed housing and council tax hand-outs in May 2010 on the basis that he lived on his own and was unemployed.

But when fraud investigators began looking at his social networking profiles they found a photo of Joynson signing a marriage register on his wife’s Facebook page.

A court heard the council investigation then found his wife, Ruth Bramhall, 40, was living at Joynson’s house in nearby Hanley.

North Staffordshire Magistrates' Court heard Joynson was overpaid £1,241.56 by the council because he effectively lied about his employment and marital status.

Joynson was invited to three interviews in July and August 2011 but failed to attend any of them.

Yesterday he pleaded guilty to failing to notify a change of circumstances affecting his entitlement to benefits between September 20, 2010 and January 9, 2011.

He also admitted to two shop thefts, failing to surrender to bail, and failing to attend a follow-up assessment following a test for the presence of a class A drug.

In the snap, bald Joynson can be seen wearing a dark suit with a purple shirt and tie and a white flower attached to his jacket.

Tattoooed Ruth, who now goes by the surname Walker since leaving Joynson, is wearing a white wedding dress and smiling for the camera.

Another snap shows her wearing a bright bikini and white shawl while a bare-chested Joynson has his arm around her apparently on a boat on a holiday.

According to the same Facebook page, Ruth said she did have a job, describing herself as a ‘dogs body’ at high-street retailer TK Maxx.

Prosecutor Lionel Desa told JPs: ‘Her Facebook profile showed them signing a marriage register.
‘Her profile also showed she was employed.’

But the court learned that he pair had split five months ago after Miss Walker disapproved of him starting to take heroin again.

The court also heard Joynson stole food worth £74.44 from Morrisons in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, on June 24 this year and chocolate and DVDs worth £445.43 from Tesco on June 29.

He then failed to attend his follow-up assessment following a test for the presence of a class A drug on July 9.

After the case, a spokesman for Stoke-on-Trent City Council said the case should act as a strong deterrent to those intent on stealing hand-outs from the state.

He said: ‘The offender tried a host of tricks and lies to avoid his responsibilities.

‘But our determined investigation team found pictures of his marriage ceremony on his wife’s Facebook page.

‘Now he is paying the price of deception and we are sending out a strong message that we will piece together information from a range of sources and expose people who are defrauding the public purse.’