{"id":5921,"date":"2015-03-13T14:06:34","date_gmt":"2015-03-13T14:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/?p=5921"},"modified":"2015-03-13T14:06:34","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T14:06:34","slug":"alan-bannister-jailed-for-six-months-for-fraudulently-claiming-26000-in-disability-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/13\/alan-bannister-jailed-for-six-months-for-fraudulently-claiming-26000-in-disability-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Alan Bannister jailed for six months for fraudulently claiming \u00a326,000 in disability benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A championship-winning golf enthusiast was jailed for six months at Cardiff Crown Court yesterday after it was revealed he had fraudulently claimed more than \u00a326,000 in disability benefits.<br \/>\n<iframe class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load\" title=\"Alan Bannister\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"about:blank\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lvgQJWk_tCk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><noscript><iframe title=\"Alan Bannister\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lvgQJWk_tCk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript><br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6016\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6016\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/BANNISTER.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-6016 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/BANNISTER-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"BANNISTER\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6016\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6016 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/BANNISTER-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"BANNISTER\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Alan Bannister<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\nAlan\u00a0Bannister, 56, of Barry Road, Barry,\u00a0claimed he was unable to feed himself, saying he couldn\u2019t even hold a saucepan in one hand, but\u00a0was filmed by Department for\u00a0Work and Pensions officers completing an 18-hole course at Llantwit Major in 2012, following a tip-off.<br \/>\nBannister retired as a mechanical engineer after being diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis, in 2002. After initially receiving a lower rate of disability allowance for his genuine condition, he successfully applied for the highest rate available in 2004, claiming it took him 15 minutes to walk 50 yards in severe discomfort and was unable to cook himself a hot meal.<br \/>\nThe rate is designed to help people only with the most severe of mobility issues. But he was filmed completing a 5,000-metre course unassisted with no sign of discomfort, after it was revealed he was participating in a five-day golf tournament.<br \/>\nA Department for Work &amp; Pensions spokesman said:\u00a0\u201cBenefit payments should go to those who really need them. We know it\u2019s a small minority of people who commit benefit fraud, but deliberately not informing us of a change in your condition that may affect your claim is a crime. Don\u2019t wait for our fraud investigators to find you &#8211; tell us of a change now. If you suspect someone of fraudulently claiming benefits, then call our National Benefit Fraud Hotline on 0800 854 440.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A championship-winning golf enthusiast was jailed for six months at Cardiff Crown Court yesterday after it was revealed he had fraudulently claimed more than \u00a326,000 in disability benefits. Alan\u00a0Bannister, 56, of Barry Road, Barry,\u00a0claimed he was unable to feed himself, saying he couldn\u2019t even hold a saucepan in one hand, but\u00a0was filmed by Department for\u00a0Work and Pensions officers completing an 18-hole course at Llantwit Major in 2012, following a tip-off. Bannister retired as a mechanical engineer after being diagnosed with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[2969,2970,2896,1291,2971,347],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-news","tag-alan-bannister","tag-ankylosing-spondylitis","tag-benefits","tag-cardiff-2","tag-fraud","tag-golf"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Alan Bannister jailed for six months for fraudulently claiming \u00a326,000 in disability benefits - The Cardiffian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/13\/alan-bannister-jailed-for-six-months-for-fraudulently-claiming-26000-in-disability-benefits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alan Bannister jailed for six months for fraudulently claiming \u00a326,000 in disability benefits - The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A championship-winning golf enthusiast was jailed for six months at Cardiff Crown Court yesterday after it was revealed he had fraudulently claimed more than \u00a326,000 in disability benefits. Alan\u00a0Bannister, 56, of Barry Road, Barry,\u00a0claimed he was unable to feed himself, saying he couldn\u2019t even hold a saucepan in one hand, but\u00a0was filmed by Department for\u00a0Work and Pensions officers completing an 18-hole course at Llantwit Major in 2012, following a tip-off. 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