London: Mother of Scarlett Keeling, British
teenager found dead in a Goa beach, faces a jail term after
she admitted in a court today that she had claimed USD 29,000
in state benefits fraudulently between 2005 and 2008.
The court adjourned the sentencing of Fiona MacKeown to a
date to be fixed after April 16 after her lawyer said she has
to attend trial of her daughter's alleged killers in India.
MacKeown, 44, admitted to falsely claiming 19,000 pounds
(USD 29,000) fraudulently in state benefits between February
2005 and March 2008.
MacKeown's 15-year-old daughter Scarlett Keeling was
found dead on the popular Anjuna beach in Gia on February 18,
2008. Goa police initially maintained that her death was an
accidental drowning.
A court hearing the case in Goa today set a start date of
April 5 for the trial of two accused men.
Goa police initially maintained that she drowned
accidentally but a second postmortem, done after a sustained
campaign by her mother, revealed evidence of attack injuries.
PTI
First Published: Friday, March 19, 2010, 23:37