Woman 'scuba-dived and worked' while claiming £65k in disability benefits
A woman who was paid more than £65,000 in disability benefits after claiming she could barely walk lived an active life, working full-time and enjoying scuba-diving holidays, a court heard.
Linda Hoey said that severe arthritis and back pain meant she needed a walking stick at all times and help to climb stairs, and was unable to perform normal household chores or even get dressed without assistance.
She drove to and from her workplace in Cannock on the M6 Toll road which she used for free because of her alleged disabilities, avoiding £15,690 of payments over almost 12 years, Stafford Crown Court was told.
The Crown Prosecution Service is taking the action against her on behalf of Midland Expressway Ltd in what is thought to be one of the first M6 Toll prosecutions.
The court heard Hoey told Department of Work and Pensions staff she could not stretch above shoulder height to reach cupboards or bend, and claimed it took her four minutes to walk four yards.
But photos seized at her Staffordshire home allegedly showed her snorkelling on holiday, lying in a hammock with her arms above her head, on her knees altering a wedding dress and leaning over a snooker table.
Her colleagues at Partsworld, Orbital Way, Cannock, where she held an administrative job, had no idea she had any disability, said Mr Anthony Cartin, prosecuting.
He said Hoey walked without a stick and would return from lunch breaks carrying bags of shopping.
She had a personalised calendar on her desk showing her scuba-diving.
In a DWP claim form in 2004, she said she needed help going up and downstairs and became stiff when sitting in a chair, sometimes making it ‘impossible’ to get up, the court heard.
Mr Cartin said: “Despite declarations she made in her Disability Living Allowance forms over the years, she was working full-time from 1997 in a desk job doing the exact thing – sitting for a long time in the same position – she said she couldn’t do without pain.”
He added: “The photos seized from her house were from the recent past. No walking stick was found at the property despite her claim she could barely walk without one. She said it was in her car because she used it to get in and out of the vehicle. We say she has lied and exaggerated. She cheated you, me and the public out of money from the public purse.”
Hoey, of Talland Avenue, Armington, Tamworth, denies misrepresenting her claim to the DWP by exaggerating her mobility and care needs between 2001 and 2015 and misusing an exemption pass for the M6 Toll Road between 2004 and 2015. The overpayments altogether totalled £65,244.
The trial continues.
