Dead husband scam earns prison term

A woman who pretended her husband was dead for five years as part of an insurance scam has been handed a sentence of at least five months' imprisonment.

Sheila Gordon pleaded guilty in a Sydney court to charges including one count of obtaining A$25,000 by deception and one count of attempting to obtain A$3.5 million from her husband's life insurance policy.

Harry Gordon was declared dead by the NSW coroner in 2001.

The 56-year-old former businessman was arrested at Sydney airport last November, after flying in from New Zealand where he was living under an assumed name with a new wife.