Man's Fake Coma And Paralysis An Effort To Avoid Court Appearance, Before Getting Caught Walking
When a South Wales man volunteered to look after his sick elderly neighbor, everyone believed it to be an act of good will. In actuality, the 47-year-old, Alan Knight, was stealing thousands from his neighbor Ivor Richards, and even illegally revised his will. In order to evade prosecution for his crime, Knight feigned paralysis and pretended to be in intermittent comas. However, when video footage showed Knight driving, shopping, and even going on vacation, his web of lies was finally unspun.
Richards, now aged 85, had no family of his own, so Knight, volunteered to look after his ailing neighbor. While caring for Richards, who suffered from dementia, Knight stole more than $60,000 from Richard’s life savings and even managed to illegally edit the sick man’s will, naming himself the sole beneficiary. According to South Wales Police Det. Con Paul Harry, Knight’s theft of his neighbor is “the most calculated long-term deception of a vulnerable, elderly neighbor,” he had ever seen, the BBC reported.
In order to escape persecution for his crimes, Knight feigned quadriplegia, claiming he fell backward and snapped his neck while pulling down his garage door. He went on to insist the accident left him paralyzed from the neck down and prone to seizures that left him in a coma for weeks at a time. For two years, Knight admitted himself to the hospital each time he was called to court for the charges against Richards. Welsh police also added that during this time period he was also claiming government assistance for his fake injury.
Although Knight and his wife Helen, 33, may have believed they were fooling authorities with their charade, the doctors were starting to catch on to his lies. During hospital observations, Knight was seen wiping his face and writing, which suggested he could in fact use his upper appendages. In addition, CCTV caught Knight driving, walking around his local supermarket, and going away on vacation, completely blowing his quadriplegic claims out of the water.
When Knight finally made his appearance at court, he sported a neck brace and his wife pushed him in a wheelchair. However, it was too late, as the authorities had already viewed the evidence against him. “Although a very accomplished and determined actor, he is nothing like in the condition he claims to be, and the conditions he claims to be suffering from are simply non-existent,” said Judge Paul Thomas during a ruling at Swansea Crown Court, as reported by the Daily Mail.
At first, Knight attempted to blame the entire ordeal on his son, Gawker reported. Eventually though, to avoid trial, he admitted to 19 separate charges of forgery, fraud, and theft. Knight will be sentenced next month, but it is believed he may face jail time in order to discourage others from fabricating such elaborate injuries in the future.