Friday 27th March 2026
Use this form to email this edition of Warming Up to your friends...
Your Email Address:
Your Friend's Email Address:
Press or to start over.

Friday 27th March 2026

8519/21438
What a wonderful image to end another horrible week. Could anyone's heart have failed to soar when seeing the picture of benefit cheat Catherine Wieland in West Sussex - a woman who claimed her anxiety kept her housebound - on a zipline in Mexico. Mexico isn't even in West Sussex, let alone Catherine Wieland's house. So something was going on here.
If I was pretending to be unable to lose my house and claiming thousands of pounds in benefits, I think I might try and keep a low profile - maybe do a ventriloquist show from my loft - but Catherine decided not to do that. Instead she went surfing in Cancun and more astonishingly visited Thorpe Park three times (at least when she was abroad she was unlikely to be caught providing she didn't pose for loads of photos).
Assuming I got to Mexico or Cancun I would still be really wary about anyone capturing me on film. But not Catherine. With admirable hubris she seemed to try and the perfect photo opportunities for a snap that would clearly say "Hey, look at me, everyone. I am not only not housebound, I am on a fucking zipline. I've dressed up in the most ostentatious jumpsuit possible so you can't miss me. And just in case you still miss me, I'll chuck out my arms and laugh.
It's the greatest photo I have ever seen. Those people who win awards for catching a puma toying with a tiny mammal or a whale leaping out of the sea right beneath the full moon have taken nothing that perfectly captures life as this.
To quote the lamestream BBC:
"When investigators confronted her with bank statements, she told them: "I didn't realise you're not allowed to leave your house."
While claiming her health was so poor she could not cook or wash herself, Wieland made 76 beauty appointments, visited 60 pubs, clubs and restaurants and spent money in foreign currencies."

And now the photo of her not understanding that being housebound means you aren't allowed to leave the house tops what was this morning the number one story on the BBC. Perhaps she thought housebound was like being eggbound. Being eggbound doesn't mean you can't eat more eggs, does it? It might be silly to, but it's possible and allowed.
I genuinely think that image should be an inspirational photo, to replace the cat hanging off a branch, or whatever. It's a testament to hubris, stupidity, briefly getting away with something and being caught.
She got away (until she didn't) with over £23,000 in three years, which to be honest, a) isn't really very much in the grand scheme of things and b) doesn't seem enough to cover all the things she's claimed to have done. So I can't wait to find out how she made the rest of the money.
Not since Gary Sparrow have I seen such a paucity of ambition and so little pay off for doing a crime that you've no intention of avoiding getting caught for.
That picture is going up on my wall. Catherine Wieland is my hero.

Ms Wieland briefly appeared in today's Newsround, but we moved on to more serious news after that. Watch here.





Subscribe to my Substack here
See RHLSTP on tour Guests and ticket links here
Help us make more podcasts by becoming a badger You get loads of extras if you do.
To join Richard's Substack (and get a lot of emails) visit:

richardherring.substack.com