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May 10th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda - Man who claimed he could not even hold a toothbrush IMPROVED his handicap to 11
- Pretended to have motor-neurone disease – suffered by famous scientist Stephen Hawking – while surviving on state handouts
- Filmed hitting powerful drives while playing 18 holes
- Videoed riding a bike one-handed while smoking a cigarette in the other
- Got around town ‘so quickly undercover investigators struggled to keep up’
- Condemned for ‘sheer greed’ as he was sentenced to seven months
By
Paul Sims
13:16 EST, 9 May 2012
|
13:17 EST, 9 May 2012
Jailed: Benefits cheat Leigh Neilly, 41, claimed almost £40,000 in benefits – claiming to have motor-neurone disease while he was busy improving his golf handicap on championship courses
A BENEFITS cheat who claimed he could barely walk was finally exposed after he was filmed striding up and down the fairways of an 18-hole championship golf course.
The only handicap Leigh Neilly could ever lay claim to having was the one he played off each week at his highly-respected local club.
It was so good the married father-of-two was entered into a series of competitive rounds.
Investigators eventually put him under surveillance after receiving a tip-off and were stunned as he walked ‘confidently’ down the undulating four-mile course in Cumbria.
He was even filmed expertly chipping out of the rough and powerfully driving the ball down a fairway during his round in June 2010.
His promising golf career was yesterday brought to an abrupt end after he was sentenced to seven months for an eight-year fraud that cost the taxpayer nearly £40,000.
The footage of Neilly, 41, was at complete odds with the image he created of ‘a severely disabled man’ whose legs were prone to ‘giving way at any time’, the court was told.
Neilly had claimed his condition was so bad that he needed a companion to walk beside him at all times.
He even said he had great difficulty gripping everyday items, including cutlery, a razor and his toothbrush – let alone a driver or a five-iron.
When officials asked him what hobbies his disability prevented him from enjoying Neilly told them swimming.
‘Curiously he didn’t mention golf,’ said Tim Evans, prosecuting. ‘But as you can see he doesn’t require too much help.
‘This man claims to be, seven days a week, all the time, so disabled that he can hardly walk and is so disabled he can hardly grip a toothbrush, let alone a five-iron or a driver.
‘Nonetheless, he continues to play off a golf handicap of 16.
‘At his previous club – Colville Park – his handicap record shows him playing between April 2001 and July 2002, 19 competitive rounds off a handicap of 13.
‘When he applied to join Silloth Golf Club in December 2002, just over a year after his description of his severe disability, his handicap was 12.
‘By 2008, rather than him being unable to play golf he had got to 11. He was improving.
‘This is a good level of golf. Handicapping for men starts at 25 – not bad at all for a man who can barely walk and who can hardly grip a toothbrush.’
Life or Riley: Neilly played off a handicap of 11 while claiming to be so ill he could not hold a toothbrush
In one tape compiled by the Department for Work and Pensions Neilly was filmed carrying pieces of wood in order to renovate a house, carrying a ladder, shaking dust sheets and emptying a bucket of water.
He was also videoed riding up and down curbs on a pushbike one handed – while using his other hand to smoke a cigarette.
On another occasion he was seen walking briskly and unaided while carrying a rucksack on his back and shopping bags in his hands around Penrith town centre.
An undercover investigator following him around the town on the day struggled to keep up with him he was walking so quickly, Carlisle Crown Court was told.
Another covertly recorded video showed him squatting on his haunches for four minutes to browse LPs at a car boot sale and later swinging a tennis racket.
Neilly, who used some of his benefits to purchase a brand new Motability-issued Ford Focus C-Max, claimed he suffered from motor-neurone disease.
But it soon emerged that he had never been formally diagnosed with the condition.
Neilly, who denied the allegations during a trial, claimed £36,825 in disability living allowance between April 2002 and July 2010.
Sentencing him Judge Barbara Forrester told him: ‘This was a flagrant breach of the law.’
Neilly’s barrister, Elizabeth Muir, said her client had already spent 58 days in custody on remand after being found guilty in March and had found it to be ‘a terrifying and intimidating’ experience.
Speaking outside court DWP area manager Vernon Sanderson said: ‘It was a well-deserved sentence for someone who thought society would pay while he indulged his hobby playing golf.
‘Neilly’s motivation, as with every other case of benefit fraud, was sheer greed.’
A proceeds of crime hearing will now be held on June 28.
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He stated he had MND, and no one at the DWP checked this with whatever hospital was treating him?
He should have had consultant’s letters, test results etc., all of which are generally required.
I cannot understand why so many have to provide reams of actual evidence and other claims go through with no checks whatsoever.
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Here we go again, another one who can hardly walk. I have posted many comments about this stating the DWP should sift through claims with that statement and investigate thoroughly. I claimed DLA for a year and had to provide proof (I had had major back surgery) to support my claim. When the year was up I was asked if I wanted to continue my claim and I refused. I was told I could have the DLA for another six months (without supplying proof). It is time the DWP got to grips with this farce and started insisting on proof for everything.
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My late husband had MND, and after he was first diagnosed with the illness he carried on working till he was no longer able to. I remember our GP advising my husband on how to make a claim for the various benefits she thought he should have already been claiming before having to give up work (42 years non-stop) but missed out on, because we didn’t know about them, or hadn’t been told. I do remember that during a claim we had a visit from an independent doctor who tested him on various things which I thought ridiculous considering they only had to get in touch with our GP and the consultant who was treating him for the full facts.
How is it that THIS disgusting person sailed through a bogus claim without being seen by anyone. Reading this is making my blood boil.
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Sir,
This money he has stolen belongs to the British taxpayer, it needs to be paid back in full with interest, if Neilly owns a house it should be sold off to repay the debt, if not he needs to have an arrangement with the bank to borrow the money.
Also 7 months is a joke yet again from our soft court system, why do you think people do this sort of crime, because they know they can get away with it.
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Better still ! Take his assets to the value of his theft and extend his sentence to 7 years to deter would thieves from stealing hard earned taxpayers money, and which should also apply to government officials.
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We need to catch more of these parasites. I know of 2 as it is and nothing is ever done to them!!!
– vic, aus, 09/5/2012 22:56=======================Have you reported them? I just ask as my relatives are always telling me about their neighbours fiddling the system, When I ask them have you reported them they answer no they havent as they dont want to get involved!!!
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He deserves what he gets, but its not only 7 months he got, DM is putting him in the stocks and the intended public humiliation is far worse than the sentence.
I thought the stocks, as punishment were outlawed in medieval times, but its worse now when we can all line up to hurl our insults anonamously.
Lets hurl them wisely and not aim them at his kid(s) etc. as one comment clearly set out to do.
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DLA is obtained by completing ONE form BY POST! There are NO medical checks! This is why over 3 MILLION are getting this benefit and rising! It also gives you a FREE CAR from the state! Wake up tax payers and THANK GOD that the Coalition Government is introducing the brilliant new PIP medical assessment for ALL claimants! We see endless stories like this every day and it proves that most claimants are FAKES and scroungers!
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A bit ambitious DM talking about his “promising golf career” when he has a handicap of 11, surely?
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The Drs that provide fake documentation to support these claims should be brought to the attention of the GMC for professional misconduct and be struck off.
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