A TRADE union employee and self-confessed martial artist has been jailed for 16 months for fraudulently claiming incapacity benefit.
Keith Duncan, 43, of Long Elms, Harrow, received £82,678 in payments despite working for the National Union of Teachers.
He also listed martial arts as one of his pastimes on his CV.
Harrow Council launched a prosecution and Duncan admitted fraud at an earlier hearing.
He was sentenced last Friday at Harrow Crown Court and will have to hand back the full overpaid amount.
In addition, the benefit cheat had a further £17,212 confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Harrow Council's head of corporate services, Councillor Paul Osborn (Conservative), said: "Keith Duncan may have been a martial arts enthusiast but he was always heading for the chop when our investigators discovered the scale of his deceit.
"Anybody else who tries to defraud the residents of Harrow can expect to get floored too."
Anti-fraud minister Helen Goodman said: "Benefit thieves have to understand that they will not get away with it.
"Working together with local authorities and the police we have a strong range of powers to investigate and with the support of the public we bring benefit thieves to justice." [25cf] Suspect someone of benefit theft? Call the National Benefit Fraud Hotline on 0800 854 440.
