Trickster jailed for fleecing OAP is set for release
THE Swansea conman who stole more than £40,000 from a vulnerable neighbour, then spent two years pretending to be paralysed to try to avoid justice, is about to be released from prison.
Alan Knight befriended the elderly dementia-sufferer before fleecing him of his life savings – and even writing a fake will to make himself the beneficiary of the man’s estate.
When police began to investigate he pretended to be seriously ill, paralysed from the neck down, and with periods in a coma-like state.
Knight, formerly of Maes y Collen, Sketty, was eventually jailed for four and a half years for a string of theft and fraud offences, and to 14 months for perverting the course of justice.
His wife Helen, who was part of the bizarre fantasy, was sentenced to 10 months for perverting the course of justice.
Knight is due to be released from prison this week – it is not known whether he will still be pretending to need a wheelchair.
The alarm was first raised in 2009, when social services became aware of daily withdrawals from the victim’s bank account, and of cheques being written for large amounts.
Staff contacted police, who quickly identified a suspect – the man who had taken it upon himself to act as a “carer” for the man, Knight.
After his arrest the Knights began to spin and elaborate a web of lies, claiming he had suffered a freak garage door injury which left him with spinal problems that rendered him motionless from the neck down, and caused him to slip into and out of a comatose state.
He and his wife repeatedly lied to police and medics about his condition, and filled a room in their home with unnecessary medical equipment.
Knight would pretend to be in a coma for the benefit of cameras or whenever anyone in authority came calling.
He admitted himself to hospital on a number of occasions, spending a total of 10 weeks on the wards.
Tests could find nothing physically wrong with him.
The police were not taken in by his story – and their investigation uncovered the truth.
While Knight was pretending to be a quadriplegic, detectives found the couple were enjoying holidays in a caravan bought with the stolen money, and going on days out to the likes of Legoland.
Police also traced CCTV showing Knight driving over the Severn Bridge, and shopping in a Tesco in Gloucestershire.
The pair continued the conceit – even writing to the Prime Minister for help.
For two years the couple maintained the lies and delayed the prosecution, but eventually the court case did come in 2014.
The con was continued right up to the dock, with Knight arriving at Swansea Crown Court in a wheelchair and neck brace.
The court heard that, with the net closing in on him, he had tried to blame his estranged son for the thefts – he was investigated and cleared by police – and then claimed police had tried to frame him for the disappearance of the money, fake claims which led to a probe by the police professional standards unit.
Knight was jailed for four and a half years, with judge Paul Thomas describing him “as dishonest a man as I’ve ever come across”.
The Knights were back in court the following year, when they admitted perverting the course of justice.
South Wales Police detective constable Paul Harry, the officer who led the investigation and whose work on the case was commended by Judge Thomas, described Knight’s actions as “the most calculated, long-term deception of a vulnerable, elderly neighbour” he had seen.