'PARALYSED' WHO CLAIMED THOUSANDS IN DISABILITY PLAYIN RUGBY

[Daanyeer]

What a scrum-bag! 'Paralysed' man who claimed thousands in disability benefits caught on camera playing RUGBY

By Daily Mail Reporter
on 3rd June 2010


A 'paralysed' man who pocketed thousands of pounds in disability benefits was secretly filmed playing rugby.
Undercover fraud investigators stood on the sidelines taking footage of Shean Saunders in the middle of a scrum.
They also found out he had taken a part-time job as a cleaner.


The 34-year-old claimed more than £7,000 in benefits during a two-year period after he claimed he suffered from spastic paralysis which disables part of the nervous system that controls coordinated movement of the voluntary muscles.
Saunders, from Yeovil, Somerset, admitted claiming benefits between June 2007-9.
Prosecutor Will Palmer told South Somerset magistrates: 'In August 2007 information was received by the Department of Work and Pensions that Saunders started playing rugby for Crewkerne Rugby Club.

'It was also discovered he had started working for a local firm as a cleaner receiving £142.20 per fortnight.'
He was filmed twice running around a rugby pitch, and at the centre of the scrum.
Mr Palmer said: 'Both times Saunders was playing for the Crewkerne team in the positions of hooker and full back.
'He was interviewed by investigators on January 28 2009 where he denied working for the cleaning company but when shown photographs and video footage of the rugby games he denied to comment.'
The total fiddle was worth £7,448.80 in hand-outs.
Helena Suffield, defending, said: 'My client finds it very difficult to deal with paperwork and life in general now he is not with his ex-wife and he has become a bit lost in the world of officialdom and bureaucracy.'
She said the Dept of Work and Pensions would recoup the money.
Magistrates sentenced him to a 12 month community order and told to carry out 100 hours unpaid work.
The Dept of Work and Pension's senior investigator John Martin said: 'We are determined to ensure people do tell us their true circumstances.'


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