A rugby player in England has been jailed after claiming an injury meant “he could not even tie his laces”, but the reality was somewhat different.
Video evidence showed that while David Ribchester claimed that work injuries to his wrists and hands in 2006 meant he needed personal care getting in and out of the bath, and could not drive his car, or even tie his shoelaces, he was in fact fully mobile.
His claims came to £923,000, but insurers became suspicious when the injuries were apparently getting worse and surveillance teams began following his movements where they found him carry out tasks such as driving his car, carrying his daughter, building garden furniture, pushing a trolley, and loading and unloading heavy shopping bags.
According to Sky News, the court also learned he conned psychiatrists into thinking he was emotionally scarred by the accident and was diagnosed with moderate post-traumatic stress disorder and with showing features of a major depressive disorder.
The below video shows that his mobility was far from what he claimed and today he was sentenced to eight months in jail after pleading guilty last month.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeB4Bzq2YQk
“David Ribchester, it is greed that has brought you to this and unfortunately there is a lot of greed out there,” judge Nicholas Cooke said at sentencing
“Genuinely injured people putting forward wholly honest claims are viewed sceptically because of the publicity in relation to this sort of matter.”
Another example of the claim culture that is becoming so prevelant.
