Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ROGUE RUNNER
Jogger smashes his own leg on a paving stone for insurance scam
A JOGGER was caught on camera repeatedly smashing his leg on a broken paving stone in order to make a false insurance claim.
Malcolm Harrison, 41, came up with the scam after spotting the faulty path on his daily run.
He returned later the same day to hit his leg on the broken slab five times.
But Harrison did not realise CCTV cameras on the block of flats he lives in were recording him.
Footage showed him laughing with a neighbour as he banged his leg against the paving stone. He later claimed £6,000 for knee and ankle ligament damage from the housing association which owns the flats.
But it refused to pay up and alerted police after watching the CCTV footage.
Prosecutor Paul Hobson told a court the broken slab “prompted an idea” from Harrison. Mr Hobson said: “He returned and deliberately banged his knee on the broken slab five times.
“Mr Harrison can be seen later in the CCTV hopping on one leg and limping.
“He didn’t know that what had happened was caught on CCTV. He was aware of the security cameras, but thought they were dummies.”
Merthyr Tydfil crown court, South Wales, heard Harrison is dyslexic and recruited his elderly mother to fill in the injury compensation claim forms.
Judge Tracey Lloyd-clarke told him: “You realised that the cracked paving stone could be to your advantage.
“You can be seen returning to the path and banging your right knee on it five times. These sort of offences are not victimless. Both the housing association and their insurers were put to some difficulty with the claim you persisted with.” Harrison, of Brecon, Powys, admitted a £9,680 fraud, which included the association’s legal expenses.
He was given a two-year community order and told to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, with costs of £1,000.