by Julia Roberts

An NHS worker paid thousands of pounds in benefit after she claimed a spinal injury had left her unable to dress herself or walk unaided told officials they had “caught her on a good day” when they secretly filmed her walking briskly to her car on her way to work, a court heard.

Christina Powsey, 50, who worked at Darent Valley Hospital, falsely claimed £21,438 disability living allowance over a 32-month period.

But the health care assistant was spared jail even though a judge at Maidstone Crown Court remarked that the case “had custody written all over it”.

Powsey, who arrived for the hearing on crutches, admitted failing to give prompt notification of a change of circumstances between November 2007 and June 2010. Two offences of making a false representation were left on file.

She was sentenced to four months imprisonment suspended for 12 months, with an electronically tagged curfew for four months between 7pm and 7am.

Powsey was also ordered to pay £1,500 towards prosecution costs at a rate of £20 a week. She has not yet repaid any of the benefit over-payment.

The court heard she was initially entitled to disability living allowance - which is not income related - when she first applied for it in 2004 following a car crash, which left her with a prolapsed disc.

Powsey, of Kingsley Avenue, Dartford, was paid at the higher rate and received up to £121 a week. She filled in subsequent claim forms in 2005 and 2007, in which she detailed her health problems.

“She spoke of pain and discomfort, mobility problems and the necessity for physical support and assistance in basic daily tasks such as preparing food, going to the loo, dressing, walking and having a limp,” explained prosecutor Tom Stern.

However, a surveillance investigation mounted by the Department of Work and Pensions in 2009 filmed Powsey moving without difficulty on four separate occasions.

“She was leaving her home and walking briskly without aids and without limps to her transport, and arriving at Darent Valley Hospital with no aids or any obvious discomfort,” added Mr Stern.

Checks with the hospital also revealed that Powsey had been carrying out her usual duties in the radiography department without any physical restrictions or limitations.

“Essentially, her mobility and ability were not consistent with the bleak picture indicated originally in her claims,” continued the prosecutor. “There had been no effort at all to correct that bleak picture at a time when it simply did not represent the truth. Had it been known, no benefit would have been paid.”

Following her arrest, Powsey maintained that her health was no better. She said she had to walk slowly and would not go out on her own as she was frightened of falling.

However, Mr Stern told the court that when Powsey was shown the surveillance footage, she was “manoeuvred to suggest” she had good days and bad days and had been filmed on the good ones.