A BENEFIT cheat who claimed he could barely walk played golf twice a week.
David Graham, 58, sponged nearly £4,000 disability pay from taxpayers.
He claimed that if he walked "further than 20 to 30 yards" he would experience breathing difficulties.
But he was caught out by fraud inspectors, who filmed him playing 6,000-yard rounds of golf at the hilly Whittaker Golf Club, in Littleborough, Rochdale.
He even went on golfing holidays abroad. Graham, who drives a Mercedes with personalised number plates, pleaded guilty to three charges of benefit fraud.
The married grandfather from Littleborough was fined £1,500 by Rochdale magistrates and ordered to pay £100 costs.
Magistrate Marlene Stanton told Graham, who was granted legal aid: "These are serious offences we have heard."
Graham stopped work in 1993 and started claiming incapacity benefit and disability living allowance because he could hardly walk and needed daily care.
Improved
Last year his condition improved but he failed to tell the Department for Work and Pensions, which continued to pay him an allowance out of taxpayers' money.
Following a tip-off to the National Benefit Fraud Hotline, the DWP investigation revealed that Graham played golf twice a week, took part in club competitions and went on golf holidays.
Vincent Carr, prosecuting, said: "Had the true facts been known at the time, no benefit would have been paid."
The court heard that Graham has now paid back the £3,645 he received from taxpayers between January last year and this January. He is still entitled to incapacity benefit.
Unfair
After the hearing, Graham's son Darren, a 33-year-old lorry driver, said: "My father hasn't been treated fairly.
"He's already paid the money back so we don't feel there was any need for the fine.
"He's genuinely in poor health and today hasn't done him any good.
"He was advised to play golf by his doctor because exercise is good for him - he suffers from too many conditions to lift.
"I think things have been blown out of proportion. My father is no benefit fraudster and the treatment he has received has been a bit harsh."
Has David Graham been treated harshly? Have your say.
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Hang his sorry assssssssss!
I know where I would like to stick his golf club!
Yeah right !
The fine is a paltry amount, this will not deter benefits cheats at all! These people are cheating every one of us and should be shopped immediately!
What beggars belief is that this thief is STILL entitled to benefit. Spongers like this take money from the people who work and from the vunerable.
The fine is a joke, not a deterant.
Only in soft touch Britain...
I am pleased he was caught! The only thing I am disappointed in is that his punishment will not deter other fraudsters - this was a prime opporunity to make an example of him and deter anyone else from falsely milking the system. Instead, the law has proven yet again - what an ass it is.
Soft touch Britian, why isn't he serving 20 years? Because there'd be too much of a fuss from the do-gooders and human rights activists in this country.
I think Ill do it myself as the sentence is no deterrent
Lock him away for a very long time.
His son said he was treated unfairly, I think he got off lightly.
A member of my family has been told golf would help thier condition but we cannot afford to take up this sport.
Never mind eh, at least Graham can still drive around in his nice car with personalised number plate, which is more then any of us hard working folk could have.
How greedy can you get??? The fact that he was able to repay the money straight away just goes to show that he didn't even need it in the first place.
It makes me sick that when the social refused me benefit it was because they were paying his green fees!!!
I don't think his son's any better either.
I wonder how fraudsters like this beat the system. I am badly disabled and in receipt of mobility which I only received after attending an appeal (at which the chairperson questioned why I had had to appeal at all).
The system is totally wrong. The application system is very complicated and is least likely to be correctly filled in by those needing the benefit most.
I think this man more than deserves his fine because people like him make the public lose faith in a system that is badly needed by some people.
My mum applied for Disability Living Allowance as she had a hip replacement which has left her not walking very well...she was refused! I think this thief should have been given a prison sentence or a the very least, a larger fine and his benefits stopped! When is the law going to treat scum like this properly?!
theres more people getting bigger handouts than this cheat!!
its time each and everyone of them where caught out and made to do commuinty services like cleaning footpaths and painting vandalsed fences etc. if you on the dole or on invalidity your on easy street in this country (proper disabled people apart that is !!)
The sentence that this man got beggars belief. But we should not be too harsh on the magistrates who only have a limited sentencing repertoire at their disposal.
Perhaps new legislation needs to be enacted which will say that any benefits cheat(s) will not be able to claim ANY form of benefit, Housing Allowance, Council Tax, you name it the sky's the limit, for a specified period - say a minimum of one year, going up to life.
Perhaps then all these people would think twice before cheating their taxpaying neighbours!
Colin W, why not think your arguments through before you post such ridiculous comments? The cost to the taxpayer of locking him up for 20 years would be many thousands of times the amount of fraudulently claimed benefits. The prison population is already higher than ever before, despite huge falls in the crime rate in the last 10 years. Presumably you wouldn't mind having to pay a 70% basic rate of tax to keep all these extra offenders locked up? The Sun/Mail/Express have got a lot to answer for. Now, just to get some balance to my posting, I also can't see why the fine was so much less than the amount of fraudulent benefit claimed - the punishment should have been tougher.
As the famous saying goes: He without SIN cast the first stone.
Amen
"Not a do gooder, or a human rights activist" - the fact that our prisons are overcrowded is barely an argument for our legal system being so lenient. Agreed, the fine should have been a lot higher, but its also about time criminals (..which this idiot now is!) started fearing the reprisals of their actions. Until they do, the "soft touch Britain" tag remains and convicted offenders can continue to laugh at the law!
How can this person be on Incapacity Benefit if he able to play golf etc. Surely he can do some form of work. It sounds to me that this person is on one long holiday at the tax payers expense. Also isn't incapacity benefit means tested? It seems this person has too much spare money. I like many of my friends work, and yet we aren't able to afford holidays, if we run a car in order to get to work. These people who are not always genuine are just scum . Also they get a guaranteed pension at retirement age. There are too many out there like this fraudster. It is about time they recalled all of the claimants and although it doesn't seem fair on the genuine claimants it is the only way of saving the taxpayers money. Mr Blair promised to review the incapacity benefit claimants we are still waiting. I know a person on incapacity benefit for a bad back yet he rides a tandem with passengers on it.....also rides other bikes everyday...has lots of holidays......I blame the system it stinks.....and these people who scam are dishonest.I work hard and I am honest so where is the justice
I quite like the Mid-East's conception of punishment. Hand chopped off for stealing, b***s cut off for sex offenders...seems fair, and it also seems to work!
Sue from Salford - Good one! An excellent idea - we should punish these thieving spongers by making them illegible to stick their snout in the "benefit pot" for say - 5 years from coviction.
This is a brilliant idea that the Department for Social Security should "take on board".
If the bloke can walk around a golf course pushing a trolley he can serve big macs or answer phones - the disability scheme is abused. I daily see people who are on disability for all sorts - but are quite capable of getting up in the middle of the night and climbing peoples garden fences to thieve from sheds - they should be made to WORK.
I would quite like to spend my day fishing and supping pints and getting paid disability benefits - but I'm too honest and WORK!
Would be interesting to see how his golf club regards a cheat!
What was his handicap?
think about it ;o)
Emma, Walkden: the fact that a member of your family has been advised to play golf helps reinforces the possibility that maybe this guy did deserve the money after all. The benefits agency has a history of treating people unfairly, as is evidenced in the comments below about people being refused benefits they should not have been refused (and I too have similar stories of people being refused benefits that they were CLEARLY entitled to). In addition, the fact that Graham is still entitled to incapacity benefit is yet further evidence that he was wrongly convicted. Too many people in this country are quick to point the finger (possibly from a personal motive - THEIR tax appears to be being wasted) without thinking about the situation clearly. And the fact that not enough people think about situations clearly is probably why murderers and other psychopaths get away with their crimes or get stupid sentences.
What I can not understand is this man got caught when there are so many thousands out there doing a simular thing
and getting away with it. Why not after 13 weeks of being on incapacity benefit they are discretly checked on, I see people going to collect their money with walking sticks and then a few hours later doing cash in hand jobs. they can earn hundreds because they can choose their hours don't pay tax.NHS Contributions, pension etc so their take home pay is good and whats more they get regular benefits and in some cases housing allowance or mortgage interest paid and council tax just think how long you have to work to get that sort of income. I would voluntary report a cheat i. These people are so hard faced what else do they scam. Also can anyone explain how on earth a person who claims incapacity benefit or disablity benefit and get a careers allowance for themselves are able to receive a careers allowance for caring for someone else. Another thing I was amazed to find out was the fact that pweople on incapacity benefit or disability allowance can claim Working Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit,,,I thought Working Tax Credit meant you worked to be able to receive it......It is a joke
The fraudster and his son have had to drop their standard of living Do I feel sorry for them I am just pleased they got caught and hope the hundreds more get caught. I work damn hard to pay my way so I don't want to see these people better off than me. Come on catch them all out and report them as fraudsters it is our duty
How can the British Government be so lenient with these bloodsucking leaches like David Graham,when there are good honest Brits working hard to support there families and have to pay in taxes for the likes of creeps like him? If he lived in Canada he would be spending some time behind bars which he deserves. Stan Parry.
I think it was correct to take this fraudster to court, everybody who cheats and are finally caught should be fined as a warning to others who consider doing the samething