Man Pretends To Be In A Coma For Two Years To Avoid Court

A U.K. man pretended to be quadriplegic and sometimes comatose for two years in order to avoid prosecution. Thanks Obama!

Police caught him on camera driving around and strolling down the aisles of supermarkets.

[su_center_ad]The Associated Press reports:

Alan Knight of Swansea, Wales, stole more than 40,000 pounds ($64,000) from the bank account of an elderly neighbor with Alzheimer’s disease, prosecutors said.

When police began investigating, the 47-year-old Knight claimed to be quadriplegic and so sick he sometimes fell into a coma. He checked himself into a hospital to avoid court appearances, saying he was having seizures.

The South Wales Evening Post reported Wednesday that the suspect’s wife, Helen Knight, had written to the newspaper saying her husband had obtained a doctor’s letter certifying he was “quadriplegic and in a comatose condition, bed-bound at home” after a neck injury.

“We’ve been through absolute hell and we’re still going through hell,” she wrote, according to the newspaper.

Police tracked the use of his supermarket card, and produced surveillance camera footage of him walking and driving, evidence which resulted in his conviction.

Warned that the trial would go ahead whether he was present or not, Knight arrived at Swansea Crown Court Tuesday in a wheelchair and neck brace. Faced with the video evidence, he pleaded guilty to 19 counts of forgery, fraud and theft.

Judge Paul Thomas said Knight was “a very accomplished and determined actor … and the conditions he claims to be suffering from are simply nonexistent.”

“His illnesses coincide with impending court appearances. I do not believe the symptoms are genuine,” the judge said.

Here he is totally comatose shopping alongside his wife. He’s on the right wearing a grey top and blue trousers, with his wife, Helen, behind him wearing a bright orange top and black trousers.

The bedridden, poor, suffering soul is seen here with his wife on the left of the screen. The paper reports that he is in a blue t-shirt pushing a shopping cart. His wife is seen alongside him wearing a beige top with black trousers.

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Image: South Wales Evening Post

D.B. Hirsch

D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.