A fraudster who avoided court for years by pretending to slip into comas has
admitted his guilt after being caught fully conscious in Tesco.
Welsh conman Alan Knight was charged with defrauding his elderly neighbour out of his life savings of £47,000. But Knight managed to avoid standing trial for two years by claiming to be prone to falling into a vegetative state.
When Knight was first charged his wife claimed that he had become a quadriplegic incapable of movement from the neck down after an accident involving a garage door. His trial was postponed. But each time a new court date was set, his wife informed them that her husband's condition had deteriorated and he had slipped into a temporary coma.
However, at the same time that Knight was supposed to be immobile and often also unconscious, he was caught on CCTV shopping in Tesco, and also driving back from caravaning along the Dorset coast.
When Knight was informed that the trial would go ahead whether or not he appeared, he turned up in a wheelchair and a neckbrace. Keen-eyed Judge Paul Thomas told the court his shopping and holidaying "are inconsistent with being paraplegic or in a coma". He said, "I have come to the conclusion he is putting it on". Knight admitted 19 charges of forgery, fraud and theft and will be sentenced next month if he hasn't faked his own cremation.
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Welsh conman Alan Knight was charged with defrauding his elderly neighbour out of his life savings of £47,000. But Knight managed to avoid standing trial for two years by claiming to be prone to falling into a vegetative state.
When Knight was first charged his wife claimed that he had become a quadriplegic incapable of movement from the neck down after an accident involving a garage door. His trial was postponed. But each time a new court date was set, his wife informed them that her husband's condition had deteriorated and he had slipped into a temporary coma.
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It's a miracle!
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However, at the same time that Knight was supposed to be immobile and often also unconscious, he was caught on CCTV shopping in Tesco, and also driving back from caravaning along the Dorset coast.
When Knight was informed that the trial would go ahead whether or not he appeared, he turned up in a wheelchair and a neckbrace. Keen-eyed Judge Paul Thomas told the court his shopping and holidaying "are inconsistent with being paraplegic or in a coma". He said, "I have come to the conclusion he is putting it on". Knight admitted 19 charges of forgery, fraud and theft and will be sentenced next month if he hasn't faked his own cremation.