Doing DIY, the £100,000 benefits cheat

A BENEFITS cheat who netted £100,000 after claiming he was disabled was caught on camera doing DIY and mowing the lawn.

David Port even had adaptations to his home paid for.

But Croydon council's fraud department proved he exaggerated his disability after photographs, taken secretly, showed the former bus driver building a trellis, loading a cabinet into his car and clambering over a wall.

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

Even after his first court appearance last summer Port applied for disability benefits to be reinstated. He cited chest pain, shortness of breath, carpal tunnel syndrome, fits, vascular disease and brittle bone disease. Last September he duped a doctor into thinking he was 80 per cent disabled.

Port, 50, pleaded guilty at Croydon crown court to three counts of fraud. He insisted he had done nothing wrong and had pleaded guilty for the sake of his wife.

He said: "I could have blinding days and I could have bad days." He claimed carpal tunnel syndrome, which causes muscle weakness in the hands, did not stop him sawing wood.

He also said the photos of him cutting grass failed to show the length of time it took. "Five hours they filmed me for, with breaks, sitting down and stopping," he added.

Between 2002 and 2007 Port received home adaptations, disability living allowance and payments to carers, including his wife. Susan Port, 54, admitted falsely claiming to be his carer. Judge Stephen Waller adjourned sentencing them until 23 February.