Council officer filmed sprinting while on sick leave found guilty of fraud

A payroll officer at the London Borough of Newham who coached athletics and participated in competitions while signed off sick from work has been found guilty of defrauding the council.

Matthew Thomas, a 34-year-old from Purley in Croydon who had worked for the council since 1998, took part in competitions and coached youths between November 2007 and June 2008. He was paid more than £13,000 during that period, when he was on sick leave for a bad back.

The jury was shown footage of Thomas training young athletes at Croydon athletics track in April 2008 and practising sprints at Crystal Palace the following month.

He also took part in the Birmingham Athletic Games in February 2008 and the Surrey County Indoor Championships the following month.

Thomas was also a coach on a Metropolitan Police training scheme for youths, Met-Track, before resigning in June 2008.

Prosecution barrister Rebecca Channon said Thomas had called his line manager in November 2007 to say he had fallen off a ladder and hurt his back.

Channon argued that Thomas was fit to work despite the sick notes and claims that he was unfit to work, he was dishonest and had gained from his alleged actions by receiving full sick pay.

She also said he was under a legal duty to disclose his second employment under the Met-Track scheme.

Paula Astrella, Thomas’ line manager at Newham, told the court that she was stunned when she learned of his athletics activities. “Matthew Thomas had always presented himself as being in significant pain and I was quite shocked to see if that was the same Matthew Thomas participating in what appeared to be a professional race,” she said.

Thomas admitted taking part in the athletics and the coaching, but argued that this was not inconsistent with his injury. He told the court he participated because it meant he could get free access to physiotherapy. He rejected accusations that they had acted dishonestly or had intended to deceive.

Thomas, who denied all the charges, was found guilty of six counts of fraud by false representation at Inner London Crown Court. He was cleared of three counts of fraud by false representation and one count of fraud by failing to disclose information relating to his athletics coaching.

Thomas will be sentenced on 30 September.

Cllr Ian Corbett, Newham Council executive member for the environment, said Thomas systematically abused his in-depth knowledge of the system.

Corbett said: “We employed him in good faith and he abused that trust. Newham Council has a zero-tolerance approach to fraudulent use of taxpayers' money. It cannot – and will not – be tolerated. We have rigorous systems in place to detect this sort of practice.

“The council constantly reviews its procedures in line with its best practice approach and we will do everything we can to ensure this episode goes unrepeated. The council routinely conducts internal audits to ensure council taxpayers’ money is being spent properly. This case shows that our robust internal audit procedures worked effectively.”