Disability benefits couple caught lifting heavy items

A couple who claimed £64,000 in benefits for severe disabilities have been caught on camera lifting heavy hanging baskets at their local florist.

Arthur McCarroll, 58, and his wife Susan, 65, were targeted by undercover investigators from the Department for Work and Pensions.

McCarroll claimed it took him four minutes to walk just three metres (9.8ft) and said he was so ‘severely disabled’ he was in danger of falling on a daily basis.

His wife said she was unable to walk, couldn’t cook a meal and needed help going to the toilet as well as getting in and out of bed and chairs.

The pair from Larch Road in Kingswinford were both handed suspended sentences at Dudley Magistrates Court.

The video, which was shown to the court, shows the husband and wife walking freely across the road carrying hanging baskets. It also captured Arthur loading heavy boxes into a car.

Susan McCarroll had wrongly claimed £35,040 in disability benefits since 2002 while her husband received £29,203. Both pleaded guilty to fraud.

McCarroll was sentenced to 36 weeks in prison suspended for two years while his wife was handed a 26-week sentence suspended for two years.

They were also both given a six-week curfew from 7pm until 7am.