Ex-mayor and wife jailed for benefit fraud to pay for daughter's private school fees

John Walker, the former Mayor of Sefton, Merseyside, was jailed for 15 months and his wife Catie for eight months after they plotted to obtain almost £37,000 in Disability Living Allowance and Income Support.

The couple, of Farmer Place, Bootle, denied the charges and were found guilty last month after a six-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

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The jury heard evidence from a string of witnesses who saw Walker, 57, performing various roles while a Labour councillor and as mayor without any obvious physical difficulties.

He also regularly walked unaided from Anfield, the home of Liverpool FC, to a city centre pub for after-match drinks.

Walker was caught out when fraud inspectors filmed him attending lengthy civic functions and making political speeches.

Catie Walker, 49, had denied she was paid for escorting an autistic boy to school and for distributing cards for a taxi firm.

The Walkers said John battled through his illness to fulfil his public commitments and the allegations were politically motivated.

The court accepted that the money did not fund a lavish lifestyle for the couple but was used to pay their daughter Emma's school fees.

In mitigation, John Gruffydd, defending John Walker, said: "It cannot be said they lived a particularly ostentatious or luxurious lifestyle.

"He did not do it to benefit himself, he did it to give his daughter a better start in life."

The Walkers bowed their heads as Judge Brian Lewis said they represented a "persistent and serious" abuse of the benefits system over a long period of time.

A-level student Emma, 17, who was watching from the public gallery, broke down in tears as he told her parents: "You have shown no remorse. You blamed others for your predicament.

"The overwhelming mass of evidence in that lengthy trial clearly exposes the mendacious fiction of your benefit claim forms as the two of you postured in civic finery as well as being chauffeured round in a publicly-funded limousine.

"You have stained the reputation of the Mayoralty and let down those who put you there."

Walker initially fell ill in 1998, suffering ME, commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia, which causes muscle fatigue.

The prosecution said that while he was undoubtedly ill in those early days, the effects of the illnesses began to wear off and he was able to resume a normal life and a political career.

He was jailed for 15 months for conspiracy to defraud £32,871.85 in Disability Living Allowance and six months concurrently for conspiracy to defraud £4,000.25 in Income Support.

Catie Walker was jailed for eight months for the DLA theft with four months concurrently for the Income Support swindle.