Marathon runner facing jail for disability fraud

A marathon runner who was caught claiming disability benefits while competing in road races is now facing a jail term for benefit fraud.

Paul Appleby was running 10k road races, half and full marathons - all the time claiming benefits saying he could only walk with the aid of a wheelchair or a walking frame.

Appleby, who joined the Sutton-in-Ashfield Harriers running club in 2001, managed to pocket more than £22,300 in illegal benefits until he was caught last year.

A spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions said Appleby had been receiving the highest rate of disability living allowance since March 1994.

Appleby, of Mansfield, Notts, now faces a possible jail term after admitting fraud at the town's magistrates' court last month.

He will be sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court next week. As well as the London Marathon, Appleby competed in dozens of events for Sutton Harriers.

In last year's Nottingham Robin Hood Marathon he was the top-placed Harrier - coming 261st out of 1,118 finishers in a time of just under three hours 37 minutes.

A fellow runner told The Sun: "He made a pretty good name for himself as a solid, very consistent runner in the veteran categories. He was particularly good at half-marathons - and he still is.

"He's guaranteed to finish in the top third in most of the races he enters. No one had the slightest idea he was making out he was a cripple on the sly. He's nothing like it - the bloke is as fit as a flea."