An appearance on the Jeremy Kyle show caught an insurance fraudster.
Patricia Rogers, 25, from Barnsley who exaggerated injuries resulting from a car accident was seen running on the TV show, Jeremy Kyle.
She claimed she could not walk unaided, but was seen running across the stage on the TV show in 2017.
Mr’s Rogers, who admitted to committing fraud had claimed damages worth £492,141 from her insurer after the motor incident in 2014. She was given a 12-month jail term, suspended for 18 months at Sheffield Crown Court this week and was also ordered to pay £500 in compensation.
Police said Rogers' insurer, The NFU Mutual, had gathered surveillance which was recorded on 26th April 2021 showed she was able to walk unaided for an extensive period of time, and therefore found inconsistencies in the medical reports that Rogers had submitted to support her claim.
After examining the medical report, the consultant orthopaedic surgeon wrote that he was unable to explain Rogers' condition and had come to the conclusion that it was either grossly exaggerated or there was an underlying psychological condition.
The surveillance footage had revealed that Mr’s Rogers had travelled to a medical appointment by a taxi, but when walking towards the car the footage revealed that a walking stick was hanging from her arm, but when she got out of the car where her appointment was, she then was leaning heavily on the walking stick.
During the appointment, Rogers alleged she could only walk with a stick or crutches because of the back pain she experienced which also stopped her from standing up for more than 10 minutes at a time.
However footage from earlier that day showed Rogers walking her two dogs for about 40 minutes with no obvious discomfort, and she was also walking while holding the stick without using it for support. She went on to tell the police from the insurance fraud enforcement department that she could not hold the dogs' leads as well as a walking stick.
When the police showed Mr’s Rogers footage of her walking and running unaided on the Jeremy Kyle show, she replied she had been able to walk around the set because of the anger she was feeling which distracted her from the alleged pain.
Detective Constable Carley Parodi, from City of London Police, said: "Rogers took advantage of a genuine car accident and, for almost a decade, kept up the pretence it had a substantial effect on her life.
"There was a huge difference between Rogers' ability to carry out her day-to-day activities in the surveillance footage and the serious impact of the accident as she described during her medical appointments."
“It was "astounding" Rogers had told medical professionals she could not walk unaided, but then appeared on national television "doing just that".
"Rogers thought she could convince medical professionals and the insurer using methods such as going to her medical appointments with a walking stick."
The sentence given to Rogers "should serve as a reminder that, however clever you think you are, committing insurance fraud will have repercussions", Parodi said.
Richard Turnell, claims specialist at The NFU Mutual, said: "Fraud of this kind is a crime that has a real impact on innocent people and ultimately impacts premiums for everyone.
"We are determined to continue to protect our clients and policyholders from third party insurance fraud and we will continue to work with the police to hold criminals to account for their actions."