Benefits cheat who ‘could hardly walk’ ran in marathons
SUPER-FIT Graham Totterdell posed as a “frail old man” to pocket more than £38,000 in disability benefits – despite running the London marathon twice.
Totterdell, 72, claimed to have suffered injuries which left him housebound and only able to walk with the help of a Zimmer frame.
He said he relied on wife April, 48, to help him bathe and use the toilet after claiming lower back and shoulder problems left him “70 per cent disabled”.
After getting disability living allowance, Totterdell set about training for his marathons, half-marathons and other running activities during his sixyear scam.
In some high profile events he ran gruelling 26-mile races under the Graham Totterdell, 72, admitted fraud name Graham King, using his wife’s maiden name. Totterdell, who admitted fraud, twice ran the London marathon under his own name. Prosecutor Ian Foinette told Canterbury Crown Court in Kent that Totterdell claimed benefits totalling £38,491.60p between September 2009 and May 2015. His wife April is due to stand trial next year for a similar offence. In application forms the couple, from Dover, allegedly claimed that Totterdell also needed sticks or crutches to walk. April Totterdell is alleged to have completed and signed some of his application forms. She denies fraud but is expected to say she took part “under duress”. Yet she allegedly described her husband as a “frail old man who won’t leave the house”. Totterdell will sentenced after wife’s trial ends. be his Mark Lloyd on Kilimanjaro, above, and arriving at court yesterday