‘Disabled’ cheat, 71, claimed £37k while doing paper round
A PENSIONER faces having to sell his home after he claimed more than £37,000 in benefits while secretly doing a £35-a-week paper round.
Roy Taylor, 71, had received benefits for years on the basis that he was medically unfit to work.
But he was videoed doing an early morning paper round by Department For Work And Pensions investigators, following a tip-off.
He was convicted of dishonestly claiming pension credits and disability benefits and was hit with a confiscation order to hand back the money.
He told London’s Appeal Court he will have to sell his half-share in a house in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset to pay off the debt.
The court heard he had been earning £35 a week delivering papers despite being a long-term benefit claimant.
He was caught on film after surveillance was taken over 11 separate days in 2012.
He pleaded guilty to making a dishonest representation to obtain benefits and failing to notify a change of circumstances at Bristol Crown Court.
Taylor was handed a seven-month suspended sentence in May 2013.
Later the same year however he was hit with a £37,201.79 confiscation order, to claw back the money he was overpaid.
Lord Justice Hamblen, at the Criminal Appeal Court, heard his bid to get that order overturned.
Taylor had claimed his mother-in-law put up the bulk of the money to buy the house – and denied owning half of it.
But Lord Justice Hamblen said that Land Registry records showed Taylor and his wife were joint owners of the property and made no mention of the mother-in-law having any interest.
An application for permission to appeal against his convictions was refused.
A DWP spokesman: “Cases like this show how we are rooting out those who are stealing taxpayers’ money and diverting it away from the people who really need it.
“People convicted of fraud shouldn’t be able to benefit from their crimes, so we will always try to get back the money they stole.”