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Traffic warden to repay benefits | |
(10 minutes later) | |
A traffic warden has admitted wrongly claiming the higher rate of disability benefit after returning to work and will repay £7,336. | |
Peter Hollifield, 57, from Caerphilly, made a legitimate claim in 2005 but returned to work in May 2006. | Peter Hollifield, 57, from Caerphilly, made a legitimate claim in 2005 but returned to work in May 2006. |
He said he could walk only 10 yards very slowly when ill, but magistrates heard he walked up to four miles a day. | |
His defence team said the claim was an "oversight", and he was sentenced to carry out 120 hours unpaid work. | |
The court heard that Hollifield admitted claiming the higher rate of Disability Living Allowance and was repaying what he had been overpaid at a rate of £100 a month. | |
The highest level of allowance is only given to people who either cannot walk at all or can only walk a short distance, the hearing was told. | |
When Hollifield made his original claim, he said it took him two minutes to walk 10 yards. | |
But magistrates were told that he would walk three or four miles a day as a traffic warden. | |
His legal team also said he still had the disabilities that he originally had but that the drugs he had been taking had helped his mobility. | His legal team also said he still had the disabilities that he originally had but that the drugs he had been taking had helped his mobility. |