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.