Sprinter who carried
on running while signed off sick guilty of fraud
A sprinter who took part in
national athletics competitions while off work from Newham Council
with a bad back has been found guilty of fraud.
Matthew Thomas, 34, was signed off his job as a payroll
officer after telling bosses he had fallen from a ladder and
injured his back, a jury at Inner London Crown Court was
told.
Yesterday (31 August 2010) the jury found Thomas guilty of seven
counts of fraud by false representation. He will be sentenced on 30
September.
Prosecutors said Thomas received £13,892.12 in pay while off sick
for seven months from November 2007 until he resigned in June
2008.
He raced in the Birmingham Athletic Games in February 2008 and the
Surrey County Indoor Championships in March 2008, the court
heard.
He also led regular 90-minute coaching sessions for Met-Track - an
athletics scheme set up by the Metropolitan Police - throughout the
period.
Rebecca Channon, prosecuting, said the case showed "two sides" of
Thomas, who had worked for the council since 1998.
She said he submitted sickness certificates claiming he was unfit
to work while at the same time carrying out other activities.
"This case is about fraud and dishonesty," she said. "Plainly he
was carrying on quite an active life outside his employment at the
London Borough of Newham whilst being off sick."
Ms Channon said the prosecution case was that Thomas, of Purley,
Croydon, was fit to work despite the sick notes and claims that he
was unfit to work, he was dishonest and he gained from his alleged
actions by receiving full sick pay.
He was also under a legal duty to disclose his second employment
as an athletics coach with Met-Track, she added.
Paula Astrella, Thomas' line manager at Newham Council, told the
court that by April 2008 she became aware that Thomas was taking
part in races.
Asked how she felt, she said: "I was quite shocked. Matthew Thomas
had always presented himself as being in significant pain and I was
quite shocked to see if that was the same Matthew Thomas
participating in what appeared to be professional races."
Jurors were shown video footage of Thomas coaching youngsters and
sprinting on a running track during the time he said he was unfit
to work.
Ms Channon said Thomas later admitted he had taken part in the
activities but did not believe they were inconsistent with his
injury.
Thomas told the court the reason for participating in athletics
competitions was to use the free physiotherapy.
Asked if he acted dishonestly or intended to deceive, he replied:
"Of course not", adding: "It was not my intention. I didn't feel
that that was something I was doing."
Thomas, who denied all charges, was cleared of three counts of
fraud by false representation and one count of fraud by failing to
disclose information relating to his athletics coaching.
Councillor Ian Corbett, Newham Council executive member for the
environment said after the case: "Matthew Thomas systematically
abused his in depth knowledge of the system. We employed him in
good faith and he abused that trust. Newham Council has a
zero-tolerance approach to fraudulent use of taxpayers' money. It
cannot - and will not - be tolerated. We have rigorous systems in
place to detect this sort of practice.
"The council constantly reviews its procedures in line with its
best practice approach and we will do everything we can to ensure
this episode goes unrepeated.
"The council routinely conducts internal audits to ensure council
taxpayers' money is being spent properly. This case shows that our
robust internal audit procedures worked
effectively."