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'Quadriplegic' fraudster caught on camera walking

Alan Knight also faked being in a coma.

By Ben Hooper
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SWANSEA, Wales, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- A Welsh man who pretended to be quadriplegic and frequently comatose for two years to avoid standing trial was recorded walking around a grocery store.

South Wales Police said Alan Knight, 47, of Swansea, scammed his elderly neighbor out of more than $64,000 and pretended to be quadriplegic to prevent standing trial.

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Detective Constable Paul Harry told Swansea Crown Court Knight would frequently fake a comatose state to help his ruse.

"He has wasted thousands of pounds of NHS money going to places like Singleton and Morriston hospitals, claiming variously to be a quadriplegic, having seizures and going into a coma," Harry said.

"Time after time they observe him and do tests and release him after a few days diagnosing nothing."

Harry said Knight's ruse was undone when police obtained security camera footage of the supposedly ill man walking around a Tesco store.

Knight pleaded guilty to 47 counts of forgery Monday and was remanded into custody pending sentencing in three weeks.

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