EXCLUSIVE

by Neil Millard

neil.millard@essnmedia.co.uk

A benefit cheat who netted £100,000 after claiming he was disabled and had difficulty walking unaided has been caught on camera casually doing DIY and mowing the lawn.

Fraudster David Port netted himself and his wife Susan thousands and taxpayers even paid for adaptations to their home.

But Croydon Council's fraud department collected evidence proving Port had exaggerated his condition.

Photographs, taken secretly, showed him building a trellis, sawing a plank of wood while standing up, carrying boxes, loading a cabinet into the boot of his car, clambering over a wall and carrying a step ladder.

Suspicions were raised by a neighbour who was puzzled when a disabled parking bay was installed outside the couple's Norbury home in Kuala Gardens.

Even after his first court appearance last summer the determined fraudster applied for disability benefits to be reinstated.

He cited chest pain, shortness of breath, carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists, regular fits, vascular disease and brittle bone disease.

Port, 50, managed to dupe a doctor into thinking he was 80 per cent disabled last September.

He entered guilty pleas at Croydon Crown Court to three counts of fraud.

Despite this he insisted he had done nothing wrong and had pleaded guilty for the sake of his wife.

Port told the Advertiser this week that he hadn't exaggerated his condition.

He said: "I can't say what my daily life will be - I could have blinding days and I could have bad days.

"I stated that I had a lot of pain in my back and it did give me a jitter at the top of my legs. It just hurts all the time."

Asked what he spent the illegally acquired benefits on, he replied: "I'm not going to go into this any more."

He claimed carpal tunnel syndrome, which causes muscle weakness in the hands, did not stop him sawing wood.

And he added that the pictures taken of him mowing the lawn failed to show the length of time it really took him.

"Five hours they filmed me for with breaks, sitting down and stopping," he said.

He says he still suffers from diabetes, osteoporosis, vascular disease, heart problems and carpal tunnel syndrome.

When confronted with the evidence, Port's own doctor told the council the pictures conflicted with what he conveyed under medical examination.

Between August 2002 and March 2007 Port received home adaptations, disability living allowance and direct payments to pay "carers" including his wife.

Susan Port, 54, admitted one count of falsely claiming to be his carer in court on Monday.

Judge Stephen Waller adjourned sentencing the pair until February 23.

Nathan Elvery, the council's executive director of resources and customer services, said: "We are delighted that after a lengthy and complex investigation we have been able to put a stop to this couple's fraudulent activity."