Guard who faked accident is shopped by ex-girlfriend
A HOSPITAL security guard caught faking a slipping accident in a scam on the NHS has been jailed – after his ex informed bosses.
Rhys Williams, 30, plotted to stage an accident at Basildon University Hospital, where he had worked for 12 years.
The debt-ridden dad-of-two found water leaking on to soggy cardboard in a changing room and decided it was the perfect location as it had no CCTV coverage.
Williams called up his superiors the day after the alleged fall in November 2019 and said he had damaged his elbow.
He took three months off claiming he was depressed and unable to do housework or play with his kids.
And he claimed the accident had damaged his relationship with his former girlfriend Ashleigh Barker.
But just after the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust had offered Williams £5,100 compensation, bosses got a message from Ms Barker, revealing his scam.
The court heard Williams had been struggling to clear a £10,000 debt. His lawyers said the scam had been prompted by desperation, not greed.
But judge Anne Whyte told London’s High Court that Williams was guilty of contempt of court in trying to press a fake damages claim against the NHS as she jailed him for seven months. She added: “He only desisted from his claim when confronted with incriminating texts. “Mr Williams has conceded that had Ms Barker not made her disclosure to the NHS
Trust – whatever her motivation – he would have got and kept the compensation. The court would be failing in its duty to provide the necessary element of deterrence if I didn’t impose an immediate custodial sentence.”
However the judge rejected the NHS trust’s bid for Williams to pay its £13,543 legal costs.