Benefit thief who claimed she couldn’t walk jailed after running 10k | UK | News
A woman who claims that she has difficulty leaving the house or walking, use He cheated after CCTV showed him attending exercise classes at the gym. Helen Green, 49, received more than £25,000 from the Personal Independence Payment (P.I.P.) Between January 2020 and March 2023, after notifying the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) suffered severe rheumatoid arthritis in every joint and a slipped disc that left him homebound and needing crutches.
Green, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, claimed his arthritis was a lifelong and progressively worsening condition and said he could not walk for more than five minutes without crutches. He also told the DWP he needed help with washing, bathing, dressing, preparing meals and eating and drinking.
After a report to the fraud hotline led to a DWP investigation, it was revealed that Green was a member of a running club competing in 10k races, completing one of them in one hour and three minutes, and was a regular at the gym.
She was caught on security footage at the gym attending Zumba, body fighting, body pump, core blast and spin classes.
The DWP accused Green of falsely claiming £42,013 in PIP, but his plea of guilty to dishonestly failing to notify them of a change in circumstances in relation to the amended change amount of £25,244 between January 2020 and March 2023 was accepted by the Crown.
He was sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Tuesday.
Mandy Tobias, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Helen Green pretended to have limited mobility, instead she was a regular runner and active in gym classes.
“He did this out of his own greed and lined his pockets with fraudulently obtained money.
“The Crown Prosecution Service presented strong evidence, thanks to the DWP’s investigative work showing Green’s deception, which resulted in his guilty plea.”
Transformation Minister Andrew Western said Green’s deception was “a slap in the face to taxpayers and those who truly depend on PIP to live their lives”.
He added: “Helen Green wasn’t just burning calories in the gym, she was selling lies and our investigators caught her.
“Let this be a warning – you cannot beat the DWP.”
