A court heard yesterday that about £8,000 was made by a doctor on sick leave by moonlighting.

Lucy Dawson could not turn up for her A&E job as she was tired and stressed out due to her secret work that got her an £800-a-day locum.

A jury heard she was rumbled after telling friends on Twitter she was getting a "stupid amount of dosh" at other NHS hospitals. Prosecutors said the mum of two earned £7,840 from ten shifts in Worcester and Hereford.

She worked at Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport and following her six-month absence, her employer had to spend £36,000 to pay locums to fill her role as she was busy claiming £29,320 in sick pay.

It was in October 2009 when Dawson, 45, from Monmouth, South Wales, went sick and two fraud charges were denied by her at Newport Crown Court.

There was poisonous issues t the A&F department that made her depressed, according to her defence. The trial into the matter continues.

Dawson has two children and she was caught by the wife of a former lover.