A “greedy” army veteran has been jailed after he lied about his health to fraudulently claim £36,000 in benefits.
Russel Harrison, 67, was given an 18-month jail sentence at Carlisle Crown Court for the “brazen” scheme.
Harrison, of Edinburgh Road in Maryport, Cumbria, admitted the fraud totalling £35,975.
He claimed personal independence payments (PIP) for six-and-a-half years after claiming he suffered serious mobility issues.
The court was told Harrison had completed his military service in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Ireland, and, after suffering a stroke at work, was now living in poor health.
Among his claims was he struggled to complete simple tasks, such as peeling vegetables.
However, the court heard Harrison had been holding down a job as an HGV driver at the time.
Prosecutor Tim Evans said this was “entirely beyond a man as disabled as the defendant was claiming to be”.
A ‘greedy’ veteran who fraudulently claimed £35,975 in benefits payments has been jailed
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Mr Evans shared the damning testimony of Harrion’s employer, who said the fraudster’s job included assisting with unloading a 44-ton lorry, climbing ladders to inspect loads and fastening straps over loads.
Judge Michael Fanning was not sparing of Harrison in sentencing.
“You are an overwhelmingly selfish, greedy and grossly dishonest individual,” the judge said.
Harrison’s defence barrister suggested a prison sentence would have a detrimental impact on his client as it would interrupt medical treatment.
Judge Fanning said Harrison was ‘an overwhelmingly selfish, greedy and grossly dishonest individual’
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GETTYUndeterred, Judge Fanning explained the custodial sentence was necessary to demonstrate that there can be no tolerance for fraudulent benefits claims.
“The public need to know this will not be tolerated,” he said.
The judge continued he was “astonished by the brazenness” of Harrison’s actions.
“People like you undermine the trust in the benefits system,” he said.
Judge Fanning’s strong words came as, just 55 miles north of the border, the Scottish Government was accused of “turning a blind eye” to benefit fraud after figures showed a “pitiful” number of claims were reported.
Figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives through a Freedom of Information request found just 29 fraudulent cases were reported by Social Security Scotland (SSS) in the last two-and-a-half years.
The data found there were two claims of benefit fraud made in the year 2023-2024, 12 in 2024-2025 and 15 so far in 2025-2026.
“These pitiful figures tell us that the SNP are effectively turning a blind eye to benefit fraud,” Shadow Social Security Secretary Alexander Stewart MSP slammed.