A shameless benefits advisor who was given a free car at taxpayers expense after claiming he could barely walk has been sacked in disgrace - after colleagues caught him enjoying a string of walkabouts at the shops.
Scounging Richard Marsden, 41, used his knowledge of DWP form filling on disability living to ''grossly exaggerate'' injuries he sustained in a car smash almost 20 years earlier.
He claimed his nerve damage and drop foot meant he needed a walking stick to get around, suffered ''intense pain with each step'' and was sometimes housebound.
It meant he was granted the highest rate of the mobility part of the benefit which allowed to get a free black Ford Focus Motability car worth £4,000, which he did not need to tax and insure.
But Marsden was unmasked as a fraud after a fraud investigator actring on a tip off secretly filmed him enjoying shopping trips in Burnley, Lancs, walking up to 300 metres unaided, carrying shopping bags and trays of food.
One one occasion a large box and coming down three fights of steps - 37 in all -alone, unaided, at normal speed and not showing any visible signs of any discomfort.
At Burnley Crown Crown Court, Marsden was convicted by a jury of dishonestly making a false representation and dishonestly furnishing false information, after two hours of deliberations.
It emerged he had lost his £15,000 a year job as a pensions advisor at the Burnley Pensions Centre. The car has also been confiscated and he has been shunned by his former work colleagues and friends.
The jury was told Marsden had applied for disability living allowance, which is not means tested in 2009 and filled in a claims form saying he had drop foot on his right leg and nerve damage as a result of a road accident in 1993.
He said he was on painkillers and other medication. In his form Marsden said the pain was intense and he had had difficulty walking all the time, with each and every step causing pain as he was walking on the bone of his right foot.
The hearing was told Marsden, who was to claim his condition deteriorated in December 2008, alleged on ''really bad days'' he couldn't get out of bed and was housebound.
As a result he was granted disability living allowance, with the high rate mobility component and lowest rate care component.
The care part of the benefit was paid into a claimant's bank every four weeks, but the mobility part could be paid out or taken as a motobility car and Marsden got the black Ford Focus, worth more than £4,000.
Sharon Brock, a DWP fraud investigator said she carried out covert surveillance between July and September 2010 and filmed Marsden several times.
She tailed him round Burnley Asda, where he shopped and ate in the cafe. On July 16, he stood several minutes waiting to use a cash machine and then walked about 70 yards back to his vehicle without stopping.
She then followed him to a retail park, where he parked using his disabled badge, later got back in his vehicle and then drove to work. Two weeks later, he was seen at Asda again, where he was spotted walking an estimated 100 yards or more, at a normal, steady pace.
Mrs Brock said on one occasion, she filmed Marsden parking in a disabled space outside PC World in Burnley and returning to his car carrying a large item in his right hand, which he put in the boot.
She told the jury she followed the defendant on other occasions as he went shopping and at all times he was alone and unaided.
Lawyers for Marsden who was given a 12 month conditional discharge said he was now living on £102 a week benefits and was described as living quite a lonely existence, almost destitute and in danger of losing his home.
Sentencing, Judge Ian Leeming, QC told him: "You grossly and dishonestly exaggerated the severity of the restrictions on your mobility."
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Negative Emotions: Shame and Shamelessnessby DeliberateReceiving113 views
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