A fraudster who pretended to be in a coma for two years was caught by
police going on shopping trips and holidays with his family.Conman Alan
Knight of Swansea, South Wales, faked being in a vegetative state after
he scammed his next door neighbour out of £40,000.
The
47-year-old tried to beat justice by claiming he was a quadriplegic -
his family said he was hooked up to oxygen and had no movement from the
neck down.
According
to Dailymail, he was caught out after CCTV captured him walking around
Tesco and driving his car to Dorset.Knight was then hauled before
Swansea Crown Court where he admitted scamming the pensioner who lived
next door to him out of thousands of pounds.
The fraudster had been living off benefits after claiming he had suffered a massive neck injury.
His
wife Helen, 33, claimed she had to care for her husband who had snapped
his neck after falling backwards as he pulled down a garage door.But
the whole time he was carrying out an elaborate three-year fraud
targeting neighbour Ivor Richards' life savings and shares.
He
'systematically' funnelled £41,570 out of the pensioner's bank account
which he used to pay for holidays and to buy a caravan in Dorset.
The
father-of-three was caught on CCTV at the Severn bridge toll on the M4
as he travelled back from the south coast.He was also captured on CCTV
in Tesco stores across the country after police traced the use of the
family's loyalty club card.
Officers tried 'at least twice' to bring
him to court but each time he admitted himself to hospital claiming his
condition had worsened.He was however unable to fool doctors at the
hospital.
While he was on 'observations' they spotted him eating, wiping his face and even writing.
Knight
was told he would have to stand trial even if he did not attend, and he
finally appeared in court in a wheel chair and wearing a neck brace.
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