Benefit cheat exposed after taking part in 10k runs and Zumba classes despite claiming she could not walk
A woman who told the Department for Work and Pensions she was housebound and unable to walk without crutches was caught on CCTV taking part in high-intensity gym classes, including Zumba and body pump, a court has heard.
Helen Green, 49, from Shrewsbury in Shropshire, was sentenced to seven months in prison at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to dishonestly failing to notify the DWP of a change in her circumstances. The fraudulently obtained Personal Independence Payments (PIP) amounted to £25,244 between January 2020 and March 2023.
The CCTV evidence, obtained by DWP investigators, showed Green regularly attending the gym and participating in Zumba, body combat, body pump, core blast and spin classes. Further investigation revealed she was a member of a running club and had competed in 10k races – one of which she completed in an hour and three minutes. During her DWP interview, Green initially denied competing in the races, claiming she had only walked them and was merely a social member of the club. But video evidence also showed her carrying her own shopping bags to her car, directly contradicting her earlier statements that she needed help with everyday tasks.
Green had claimed to the DWP that she suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis in every joint and a slipped disc. She said the arthritis was a lifelong condition that would progressively get worse, leaving her housebound and reliant on crutches. She told officials she could not walk for more than five minutes without crutches and needed help with washing, bathing, dressing, preparing meals, eating and drinking. Court documents noted that Green did have genuine health conditions – including rheumatoid arthritis, varicose veins, deep vein thrombosis and knee problems – for which she was initially awarded PIP in 2016. However, she failed to inform the DWP of improvements in her condition between 2020 and 2023.
The DWP investigation began after a tip-off to the department’s fraud hotline. Investigators then deployed a range of methods, including physical surveillance, analysis of third-party data and the use of CCTV footage. The department’s fraud task forces regularly employ such techniques – working with credit reference agencies, banks and public tip-offs – to identify claimants who are not declaring changes in their circumstances. In 2023/24 alone, an estimated £7.4 billion was overpaid due to benefit fraud across the UK, with PIP accounting for £29 million of that figure. The total loss to fraud and error in the welfare system was £8.4 billion in 2020/21.
The DWP initially accused Green of falsely claiming £42,013 in PIP. However, the Crown accepted her guilty plea to the lesser, agreed amount of £25,244. Mandy Tobias, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Helen Green pretended she had limited movement, but instead was a regular runner and active in gym classes. She did this for her own greed and lined her pockets with fraudulently obtained money.” Tobias added that the CPS presented strong evidence thanks to the DWP’s investigation work, resulting in Green’s guilty plea.
Minister for Transformation Andrew Western, who is responsible for tackling fraud, error and debt at the DWP, described Green’s deception as “a slap in the face to taxpayers” and those who genuinely depend on PIP to live their lives. He added: “Helen Green wasn’t just burning calories at the gym, she was also peddling lies and our investigators caught up with her. Let this be a warning – you can’t outrun the DWP.”
