Facebook wedding photos catch out benefits cheat who claimed he was single Heath Joynson, 45, stole more than £1,000 in benefits he was not entitled to He told Stoke-on-Trent council that he was single and unemployed Investigators caught him out when they found pictures of him on his wife's profile on Facebook A benefits cheat who swindled more than £1,000 of taxpayers" money by claiming he was single and living alone was caught out when investigators spotted the pictures of his wedding posted on Facebook. 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. Guilty: Smiling as he signs the marriage register, this is the picture that got 'single' Heath Joynson caught by fraud investigators 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. Enjoying the high life: The court heard that the couple, pictured here on holiday together, have now separated as a result of Joynson's drug use Magistrates handed Joynson a 12 month community order with supervision, a six month drug rehabilitation requirement and 120 hours unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £200 costs to Stoke-on-Trent City Council and £255 costs for the other matters. His fraud was exposed when wife Ruth unthinkingly posted a picture of them on Facebook signing a marriage register. Cheat: Heath Joynson claimed more than £1000 which he was not entitled to after he tricked his council into giving him housing and council tax benefit, he was also sentenced for stealing chocolates and DVDs from local supermarkets 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.