Disability benefits woman ‘caught jogging’
£64k fraud trial hears accused did 5k runs despite MS claims
A covert surveillance team described how they captured a suspected benefits cheat doing regular 5km training runs when she was claiming she could barely walk without support.
A jury heard silversmith Annette Bond spent nearly a decade conning taxpayers out of £67,062 by claiming her mobility was severely impaired by multiple sclerosis.
A court was shown footage of Bond leaving her home in running gear for sub-30 minute 5km runs around Stanley, near Perth.
department for Work and Pensions fraud investigator Scott Hodge, 54, said the team eventually quit the surveillance operation early because they had gathered so much damning evidence against Bond.
He told Perth Sheriff Court the team parked in view of Bond’s home and filmed her running the same route three times in 10 days in 2017.
He said: “She is walking briskly and then she turns at the junction and begins to run.
“I have gone ahead of the subject and then captured footage of her running along the road back into Stanley. It would have been hills, ascents and descents, at various different parts of the journey.
“We used an internet website to ascertain the distance. The estimated distance run was 4800m – just short of three miles.”
He said Bond completed the run in 27 minutes and that she had completed the runs without any support from anyone else, had not been unsteady on her feet and did not appear to be impaired. He said the team had a warrant to carry out
the surveillance from may 30 to August 29, 2017 but brought it to an early end after less than two weeks.
He said: “It was felt that we would probably just see more of the same over the following days, so the decision was taken to end surveillance.”
on Bond’s claim form, she stated: “I prefer someone with me at all times when I am outdoors because I have poor balance. There is a risk of falling and dizzy spells.”
Her mother, elizabeth Bond, 68, told the jury her daughter was diagnosed with mS in 2004 but exercised regularly to fight it.
She said: “I occasionally saw her when I was on the way to work. She was out running. It was most mornings on my way to work. for months.
“She seemed to walk quite well. She was exercising to try and strengthen her legs. I think she had a running machine in her house. I think it was a cross-trainer she had.”
The court also heard from a work colleague that Bond had been seen dancing on a Christmas night out.
The jury was also told Bond had been running an online etsy business between 2013 and 2018.
Bond, 49, denies fraudulently claiming benefits and related charges. The trial, before Sheriff William Wood, continues.