A woman who took part in a benefits scam has been told by a judge she is "devious, manipulative, greedy for other people’s money and a liar of epic proportions".

April Totterdell connived with her then marathon-running husband Graham to fake a disability and then pocket £38,000 in benefits.

The 48-year-old mother-of-two had denied taking part in the fraud – but a jury at Canterbury Crown Court took just 50 minutes to convict her today.

She had claimed it wasn’t done to get money, but for Graham – now her ex-husband - to obtain a Blue Badge so he could park for free.

Mr Totterdell had been awarded the highest rate Disability Living Allowance after the couple claimed he could barely walk and “was a frail old man”.

The jury heard how Mrs Totterdell signed benefit application forms telling how he needed a zimmerframe, a stick and crutches because of two injuries.

But the truth was that Mr Totterdell competed in runs in Ashford, Charing, Littlestone, Hamstreet, Paddock Wood, Folkestone, Deal and Lydd.

He also completed the London Marathon twice.

Earlier, the court heard how Mr Totterdell had used the name Graham King – the surname is Mrs Totterdell’s maiden name – when participating in some of the marathons.

Mr Totterdell pleaded guilty to fraud at an earlier hearing but his wife, of Corton Crescent, Dover, denied the same charge that between September 2009 and May 2015 she defrauded the Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) of £38,491.60.

Prosecutor Ian Foinette said the pair were involved in extracting money from the DWP.

“Mr Totterdell, her former husband, has admitted the fraud but this defendant is now claiming she was acting under duress throughout this period," he said.

"Mr Totterdell, her former husband, has admitted the fraud but this defendant is now claiming she was acting under duress throughout this period" - Ian Foinette

“She says she was so abused, so threatened by him that she had no alternative but to assist in taking a leading role in taking money to which they were not entitled."

The jury rejected her claims.

The prosecutor revealed Mr Totterdell’s claim of incapacity “was simply not true” – even though he had an accident in the past.

“Undoubtedly, he was injured but what he was claiming for was considerably more than that," he said.

The prosecutor said Mrs Totterdell knew “full well” his claims of that level of injury were “simply not the case”.

“While he was claiming benefit and for a large portion of the time he was actually competing in half marathons and the London Marathon.

“And at the same time he was suggesting to the DWP, with the assistance of Mrs Totterdell, that he was so incapacitated that he could barely move.”

Mr Foinette said Mr Totterdell was filmed walking across the road and crawling underneath cars while servicing his car.

The benefits were paid into Mrs Totterdell’s bank account after she claimed he was “70% disabled in the lower back” with injuries to both shoulders.

Mr Foinette said he began competing in runs in September 2009 while being described in various documents “as a frail old man who could hardly get out of an armchair to move from one side of the room to the other without using a zimmerframe and sticks”.

The pair will be sentenced next week after Judge James O'Mahony told her: "This case demonstrates in sharp focus that you are devious, manipulative, greedy for other people's money - even when you had plenty of your own - and a liar of epic proportions."

He then read from her application form that she had to wash her husband's face, put toothpaste on a brush, help him shower and cut his hair and nails.

"Pure lies - he was running marathons around the country!" he said."You tried to manipulate this court and you failed. You now face immediate custody."