The way Aaron Hooper told it, he was so disabled he didn’t have the strength to grip a knife and fork or move more than a few metres without a wheelchair.
The 31-year-old was sufficiently convincing for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to put him on disability benefit and he was awarded a brand-new car under the Motability scheme, which offers anyone in receipt of a ‘qualifying mobility allowance’ a free car, scooter or powered wheelchair in exchange for a portion of their disability benefits.
It was only when his mother came under investigation for suspected benefit fraud that a different picture of his physical abilities emerged.
DWP staff not only observed him walking a mile unaided through the Devon town of Axminster with a guitar slung across his back but also lifting heavy weights at a local gym.
It was his exploits in the fitness centre’s car park that were most telling, however. In a video the gym uploaded to Instagram, Hooper can be seen demonstrating his strength by pulling his car several metres across the tarmac using a rope attached to the tow hitch of the vehicle.
Hooper’s case is not just a salutary tale about the gullibility of the civil servants who police our bloated benefits system, but a reminder of the perks available to some of the 2.8 million people currently economically inactive due to ill health.
Last year, a record 815,000 claimants made use of the Motability scheme. This represents an astonishing increase of more than 170,000 customers in just 12 months thanks to a surge in people claiming disability benefits, which boosted Motability’s turnover to a whopping £7 billion.
This boom has proved extremely lucrative for the scheme, which enjoys a uniquely privileged position. Not only is it a private company, jointly owned by Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest, but enjoys a guaranteed revenue stream in the form of state-funded benefits and has a de facto monopoly.
Hellbound and Down 