A man from Somerset who was caught on video walking, after he claimed he was left in a wheelchair by an accident at work, has been jailed for fraud.
Tony Bailey, 31, from Martock, could have netted £1m in compensation from insurer NFU Mutual.
Bailey claimed he suffered back injuries from slipping while working at a mushroom farm in Dorset.
Bailey admitted conspiracy to fraud at Taunton Crown Court and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
The "accident", at Fiddleford Mushrooms Limited in Sturminster Newton, Dorset, was alleged to have happened in April 2002.
Caravan holiday
The court heard that although the incident was logged in the company's accident book, there were no witnesses to the fall.
Jurors heard how Bailey lied to doctors and his own solicitors about his injuries, and made his partner Samantha Beckey, 26, back up his claims and push him around in a wheelchair.
Lawyers for insurance firm NFU Mutual hired a private investigator to film Bailey after they became suspicious after noticing anomalies with the medical evidence.
The video showed Bailey walking around Yeovil town centre and driving to a supermarket.
He was also filmed going on a caravan holiday in Burnham-on-Sea despite telling solicitors he was going into respite care.
'Misplaced loyalty'
Prosecutor Nigel Askham said this was "the worst and most blatant insurance compensation fraud" he had come across.
Judge Graham Hume Jones told Bailey that personal injury cases depended on the honesty of the claimant.
Mrs Beckey also admitted conspiracy to defraud and was given a two-year prison term, suspended for two years.
The judge said she had been put under pressure and acted out of "misplaced loyalty".
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