Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: DASERVICES on August 11, 2008, 11:19:49 am
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www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/07/08/father-and-son-cleaning-team-swindled-42-000-64375-21300858/
Father and son cleaning team swindled £42,000
Jul 8 2008 by Chloe Griffiths, Liverpool Daily Post
A FATHER and son team were caught doing the rounds as window cleaners while swindling more than £42,000 in disability benefits.
Undercover officers watched for five months as William Bridges and his son, Mark, lugged around heavy ladders, scrambled up walls and scrubbed windows.
Investigations revealed Bridges snr had been running the business in the Haydock area of Park Street for nearly five years and recruited his son to help out.
But, the whole time the 59-year-old was claiming thousands in benefits, pretending he was severely disabled, and needed help with his personal care.
The fraudster, of Station Road, Haydock, insisted he could only walk a few feet without being in serious pain.
But Liverpool Crown Court heard it was not the first time he had conned the system.
In 2005, magistrates spared him prison for failing to declare a £3,000 pension pot and falsely claiming more than £10,000 after he “hobbled into court with a walking stick”. His barrister, Sean Joyce, persuaded the court to be lenient, insisting he relied on benefits.
Bridges snr was jailed for eight months after he admitted swindling more than £28,500 in income support and disability living allowance.
Judge Charles James said: “Whilst maintaining you were unable to work, you were running your own business window cleaning – something involving a great deal of physical activity.”
He added: “This is an extremely unattractive tale – someone of your age should have appreciated what you were you doing and instead you were leading your son into this dishonesty activity.”
David McLachlan, prosecuting, told the court Mark Bridges had begun to work in his father’s business in January, 2005, and had fraudulently claimed nearly £14,000.
But Benjamin Jones, defending, said the 34-year-old had originally claimed benefits legitimately after being admitted to psychiatric hospital due to suffering bouts of drug-induced psychosis.
Mr Jones said the father-of-one, of Pool End, St Helens, had rid himself of the “demons of drugs and drink” and was managing to earn a living without benefits.
Judge James suspended a four- month prison sentence for two years and ordered Bridges Jnr to do 300 hours unpaid work.
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So there is justice for some after all :)
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Good, And the genuine window cleaners will now have an area to go and canvass where they can pick up plenty of work ;D
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No, cos he will ahve to work harder and pickup more work now to pay it all back.
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What gets me is the fact that they were watching him for 5 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Surely if hes caught working while on the dole theyve got him bang to rights!
Why does it take 5 months??????? >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(
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surely someone has to sign there letters or what ever they have saying they cant walk this distance or do that .....ie ..doctors or specialists, so i reckon if the doctors involved was fined aswell it might cut some of this out.
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Father and son cleaning team swindled £42,000...
Judge James suspended a four- month prison sentence for two years and ordered Bridges Jnr to do 300 hours unpaid work.
£42,000 divided by 300 hours = £140 an hour.
Not a bad hourly rate at all!
There's no justice!
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ITS time more of this was made public then perhaps all the dodgy cleaners will crawl back in there holes and leave it to the cleaners who want to make a go of it .
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ITS time more of this was made public then perhaps all the dodgy cleaners will crawl back in there holes and leave it to the cleaners who want to make a go of it .
Well said Dave
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Thats just one whose got caught. What about all the others? There are thousands at it in window cleaning alone.
The risk for these people in reality is so small its not worth worrying about. I reported a taxi driver, a real micky taker, to one of these hotlines. I gave them all the details but to the best of my knowledge nothing ever came of it.
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Let him who hasnt sinned, throw the first stone! ;)
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Well I can say with a clear heart I have never had a penny of benefits in my whole life. So does that allow me to throw the first stone?
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Tar and feather the cheating bar-stools...and then tie them to a lampost in the area where they were cheating...!!!
Parasites....