A former Sydney prostitute and one time "campaign manager" for disgraced author Norma Khouri - whose account of honour killings in the Middle East was exposed as a lie in 2004 - has herself been jailed for deception.
Rachel Richardson, 41 of Caboolture, north of Brisbane, pocketed more than $93,000 in welfare payments over 13 years, despite being married and having a full-time job.
Commonwealth prosecutors told Brisbane's District Court today that at one stage, the reformed heroin addict was earning up to $53,000 a year in her role with telco giant Telstra, on top of a Disability Support Pension which she had been collecting since November, 1992.
Despite television appearances and press coverage of her friendship with the now notorious writer Khouri, welfare authorities only discovered Richardson's fraud in April, 2005.
She was today ordered to serve six months of a three-year jail term, after pleading guilty to one count each of obtaining finanical advantace by deception and defrauding the Commonwealth.
The court heard Richardson had worked as a prostitute in Sydney's red light district of Kings Cross for several years before marrying an older man at the age of 20.
The relationship was violent, however, and defence barrister Catherine Cuthbert said Richardson had been forced by her husband to continue hooking to support the family.
He had also insisted she apply for the Disability Support Pension just five days after they tied the knot.
It was during this time that Richardson befriended Khouri, a woman who had once gone to school with her daughter.
She cared for Khouri's children and also became her unofficial "campaign manager", speaking on her behalf and assisting with the honour killing cause the subject of Khouri's bestselling book Forbidden Love.
It was not until 2004, however, that it was found Khouri's account was a fabrication.
It was subsequently pulled from the shelves.
When the scandal broke, Khouri fled to Chicago and Richardson continued to care for Khouri's two children.
The court was today told that while Richardson was ripping off the system, she was also collecting for charity and helping women with depression.
In 1996, she was the subject of Rachel's Story - a documentary in which she shared her own experiences a prostitute and tried to help another get off the streets.
In sentencing her today, Judge Michael Shanahan was sympathetic.
"It's clear that you have had a distressing life," he told her.
"(But) the system itself relies on the honesty of those claiming (welfare) benefits."
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