Disability scam by mayor who worked as referee

With hindsight, it was not the cleverest thing for the mayor of Pembroke to be doing: claiming disability benefit for being too ill to walk, yet at the same time officiating as referee at numerous football matches. But yesterday Keith McNiffe paid the price as he was given a suspended jail sentence by magistrates after the humiliation of resigning his civic role.

McNiffe, 49, admitted pocketing thousands of pounds of cash he was not entitled to when he appeared before Haverfordwest magistrates court. He had been caught refereeing at the matches by undercover Department for Work and Pension (DWP) officials following an anonymous tipoff.

When confronted with the allegations, in March this year, he stood down as mayor of Pembroke but vowed to clear his name. Yet within weeks he had pleaded guilty to two offences of failing to notify the authorities about a change in his condition, leading to him falsely claiming benefits of £9,233 between July 2005 and May 2007. Magistrates heard yesterday that McNiffe had officiated at 67 football matches over two seasons while claiming disability and care benefits at the highest level. To qualify as a referee, he would have had to pass rigorous fitness tests, including running 2,400 metres in under 12 minutes and doing timed 200-metre and 50-metre sprints.

They gave him a four-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to do 200 hours' unpaid work and pay £75 court costs. McNiffe will also have to pay back all the money falsely claimed.

"Magistrates gave him a yellow card which sends out a clear message to everyone out there," said Brian Evans, the DWP chief fraud officer for Wales. "He was given a suspended jail sentence and ordered to do unpaid work and will now have a criminal record. Any other offence and the result will be a sending off."

Alex Ferguson, prosecuting, told the court that McNiffe had claimed benefits at a level which should have meant he was incapable of walking or could walk only with significant discomfort, and needed round the clock help with bodily functions.

Undercover DWP officials attended a match in March last year and saw him running and walking the length of a football pitch. He was filmed during a second match the following month. Sean Dyer, in mitigation, told the court that McNiffe had started by legitimately obtaining benefits. He said McNiffe had put on weight after an operation to remove his thyroid gland and eventually had to undergo emergency surgery on his stomach.

He had been ill afterwards and had taken medical advice to do weekly cardiovascular exercises. At the time of the improvement in his health, he had been awaiting a hospital appointment to see a consultant to review his condition and had planned to tell the authorities of the improvement.