When she stood last year as a candidate for the Waipā District Council in the Cambridge ward, she said she brought “honesty and integrity to ensuring council will get it right first time and stop the waste”.
This week, we learn that Hope Amy Spooner has been sentenced on benefit fraud charges totalling $107,000.
Today, the 34-year-old appeared for sentencing in the Hamilton District Court on two charges of obtaining by deception and two of dishonestly using a document for two sets of offending spanning nearly four years.
She had earlier pleaded guilty to two charges of obtaining by deception, and two of using a document for pecuniary advantage.
She said marriage struggles and high living costs were behind her actions.
The New Zealand Herald and Waikato Times featured different aspects of her public activities in their headlines.
The Herald said:
The Waikato Times said:
Both reports noted she had defrauded the Ministry of Social Development of $107,132.84 over a span of nearly four years by continuing to claim Sole Parent Support benefits after she had reconciled with her husband.
Judge Kim Saunders declined Spooner’s application for name suppression.
But the outcome could have been tougher.
Court documents (according to the Herald) stated that Spooner received undue credits totalling $286,316.21, but the Ministry of Social Development was seeking repayment only of $107,132.84.
Moreover, the judge sentenced Spooner “to the maximum six-month community detention term, together with 14 months’ intensive supervision”.
PoO supposes that was because of the nature of the charges laid.
The maximum sentence for defrauding the Ministry of Social Development depends on the specific legislation used to prosecute the offence. It can reach up to seven years in prison under the Crimes Act 1961.
But for minor or less sophisticated cases, the department may prosecute under the Social Security Act 2018.
The Herald reported that Spooner, a mother of four, told a pre-sentence report writer she blamed her former husband and his alleged methamphetamine addiction for her offending, because his relapse put financial pressure on the household.
Spooner applied for the sole parent support benefit in January 2020 after advising the Ministry of Social Development that her marriage had ended and her husband had moved out.
She received money from January 28, 2020 until March 20, 2023, when she stopped it.
However, she applied for it again, and it was granted from August 2, 2023, until she stopped it again on February 12, 2024.
As a result of information received, the Ministry of Social Development found that Spooner had reconciled with her husband after a month.
During the relevant periods, the ministry found that Spooner had received credits totalling $286,316.21.
She said high living costs and the uncertainty of her marriage contributed to her not advising the ministry of the reconciliation.”
She declined to comment on why she offended a second time, other than saying it was “an emotionally difficult time”.
Judge Saunders said Spooner’s premeditation was self-evident, particularly the second time.
After taking a starting point of two years, she allowed 15% for her guilty pleas and 5% for remorse.
But she decided against issuing a credit for previous good character.
The Waikato Times report harked back to the times when Spooner had “stormed” the grounds of Parliament and covertly filmed then-Prime Minister Jacinda Arden.
Spooner is well known for her strident anti-vaccination stance. She stood for the council in the 2025 local body elections on the Better Waipā ticket – a political lobby group formed by Hamilton City councillor Andrew Bydder.
In 2022 she joined a convoy to the anti-mandate occupation outside the Beehive, declaring online that she was “about to storm Parliament”.
In another instance, she covertly filmed then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with her daughter Neve at a playground in Tairua, suggesting someone should “ruin her holiday” and commenting that Ardern “shouldn’t be allowed to live a normal life like that”.
She has also made posts on her Facebook advocating the use of Ivermectin as a treatment for the Covid virus.
The Waikato Times report also recalled that, in an opinion piece submitted to the Cambridge News newspaper in August last year – well after her offending had been uncovered – Spooner criticised the Waipā District Council’s financial management and “out-of-control spending”.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
She had earlier pleaded guilty to two charges of obtaining by deception, and two of using a document for pecuniary advantage.
She said marriage struggles and high living costs were behind her actions.
The New Zealand Herald and Waikato Times featured different aspects of her public activities in their headlines.
The Herald said:
Former Waipā District Council candidate Hope Spooner defrauded MSD of $107k in benefits
The Waikato Times said:
Anti-vax candidate who filmed Ardern and daughter sentenced for $107k benefit fraud
Both reports noted she had defrauded the Ministry of Social Development of $107,132.84 over a span of nearly four years by continuing to claim Sole Parent Support benefits after she had reconciled with her husband.
Judge Kim Saunders declined Spooner’s application for name suppression.
But the outcome could have been tougher.
Court documents (according to the Herald) stated that Spooner received undue credits totalling $286,316.21, but the Ministry of Social Development was seeking repayment only of $107,132.84.
Moreover, the judge sentenced Spooner “to the maximum six-month community detention term, together with 14 months’ intensive supervision”.
PoO supposes that was because of the nature of the charges laid.
The maximum sentence for defrauding the Ministry of Social Development depends on the specific legislation used to prosecute the offence. It can reach up to seven years in prison under the Crimes Act 1961.
But for minor or less sophisticated cases, the department may prosecute under the Social Security Act 2018.
The Herald reported that Spooner, a mother of four, told a pre-sentence report writer she blamed her former husband and his alleged methamphetamine addiction for her offending, because his relapse put financial pressure on the household.
Spooner applied for the sole parent support benefit in January 2020 after advising the Ministry of Social Development that her marriage had ended and her husband had moved out.
She received money from January 28, 2020 until March 20, 2023, when she stopped it.
However, she applied for it again, and it was granted from August 2, 2023, until she stopped it again on February 12, 2024.
As a result of information received, the Ministry of Social Development found that Spooner had reconciled with her husband after a month.
During the relevant periods, the ministry found that Spooner had received credits totalling $286,316.21.
She said high living costs and the uncertainty of her marriage contributed to her not advising the ministry of the reconciliation.”
She declined to comment on why she offended a second time, other than saying it was “an emotionally difficult time”.
Judge Saunders said Spooner’s premeditation was self-evident, particularly the second time.
After taking a starting point of two years, she allowed 15% for her guilty pleas and 5% for remorse.
But she decided against issuing a credit for previous good character.
The Waikato Times report harked back to the times when Spooner had “stormed” the grounds of Parliament and covertly filmed then-Prime Minister Jacinda Arden.
Spooner is well known for her strident anti-vaccination stance. She stood for the council in the 2025 local body elections on the Better Waipā ticket – a political lobby group formed by Hamilton City councillor Andrew Bydder.
In 2022 she joined a convoy to the anti-mandate occupation outside the Beehive, declaring online that she was “about to storm Parliament”.
In another instance, she covertly filmed then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with her daughter Neve at a playground in Tairua, suggesting someone should “ruin her holiday” and commenting that Ardern “shouldn’t be allowed to live a normal life like that”.
She has also made posts on her Facebook advocating the use of Ivermectin as a treatment for the Covid virus.
The Waikato Times report also recalled that, in an opinion piece submitted to the Cambridge News newspaper in August last year – well after her offending had been uncovered – Spooner criticised the Waipā District Council’s financial management and “out-of-control spending”.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
2 comments:
Why do people still buy newspapers, or watch TV news?
Or even buy previously balanced public institutions, such as, the (now left wing echo chamber), Listener?
The people who will decide, in November, who governs us all, that's who.
Go the luvvies.
Ameni
Please don't put "anti-vax" in your headline. That has nothing to do with someone committing benefit fraud.
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