Scuba diving in Egypt, the benefits cheat, 53, 'so frail she couldn’t open a bottle of wine’

A benefits cheat who claimed she was so frail she couldn't even open a bottle of wine was caught out when she was pictured scuba diving at exotic locations around the world.

Rose Jones, 53, pocketed more than £135,000 of tax payers' money after convincing benefit officials she was unsteady on her feet and bed-ridden most of the time.

She claimed to be battling a spinal condition which left her immobile and on a variety of painkillers and suffering the effects of a stroke leaving her unable to sit in a chair, climb stairs and suffered from incontinence.

Her husband, ex-Para Reginald, 53, told authorities he was struggling to set up his own dog grooming company and needed working tax credits to help meet his bills.

But the couple were in fact living a lavish lifestyle travelling to exotic hideaways, including the Maldives and Indonesia for complicated scuba diving courses.

Canterbury Crown Court heard the Jones had  joined a yacht club and gone on golfing and skiing trips to Canada, Mexico, Romania, Bulgaria, Jamaica and Spain.

The lifestyle was funded by Mrs Jones claiming Incapacity Benefits and Disability Living Allowance and Mr Jones claimed Carer's Allowance and Working Tax Credits over a staggering 16 year period.

The couple, from Ramsgate, Kent, whose marriage has now broken up, also owned a motor home and treated themselves to a personalised number plate.

Far from being able to work, Mrs Jones held down two full-time jobs at the same time - as a caretaker and a concierge.

From March 1996 until February 2000 Mrs Jones worked at a care home in Margate before landing two full-time jobs at the MoD and for a property management company in London.

When fraud officers raided the couples home Mr Jones asked: "What am I supposed to have done?"

Mrs Jones admitted ten offences of cheating the taxpayers and was found guilty on two others.

Mr Jones, who now works as a paramedic, was convicted on seven fraud charges after the 11-day trial ended yesterday.

Mr Jones told the jury his wife, who now lives in Germany, went on secret scuba diving and skiing trips behind his back to Abu Dhabi, Egypt and Panama with her new lover.

Helen Guest, prosecuting, told the jury that from 1994 to 2010 the couple kept up the pretence to officials that Mrs Jones was unable to work due to her crippling condition.

She said: "Mrs Jones was clearly capable of working - managing to hold down two jobs simultaneously for a significant period."

But in one of the official documents Mrs Jones wrote: "I cannot bend or kneel or pick up a piece of paper from the floor.

"Have problems sitting in a chair for five minutes and back tends to lock and it hurts to get up.

"I am bed-ridden...my back condition is deteriorating...I cannot walk for more than 50 metres without stopping or feeling severe discomfort.

"I have problems with stairs and am also unable to open a bottle of wine."

The court heard Mrs Jones informed authorities she could not wash and dress without the help of her husband "because my back locks."

In 1997 she claimed she suffered from "a severe back/spinal and nerve pain, which goes down both legs and thighs into my toes. Had spinal back operations."

Mrs Jones told the doctor she was too ill to work, but in 2000 she landed a job in London while working as a head concierge elsewhere in the city.

Mrs Jones alleged she was forced into signing all the applications by a husband who bullied her and wanted money to fulfil his dream of a luxury lifestyle.

She maintained that she had a genuine degenerative spinal condition but her "violent and controlling" husband had bullied her into working.

She told the jury how he had hit the children for being clumsy and screamed abuse at her.

"He told me that was not fit for anything. He said I would never reach his level. He was up there and he viewed us as down there.

"He liked money. He liked big things, expensive cars like Range Rovers, with personalised number plates, hi-fis, a nice house, everything we could not simply afford.

"He joined a golf club. It had to be the best equipment."

She claimed that Mr Jones wanted to join the Yacht Club - despite the fact the couple did not have a boat, but they were members of the Kent Scuba Club.

Mrs Jones claimed that her husband kept all the mail and passports locked away in a private locked filing cabinet and he refused to allow her access to their bank accounts.

In 2010, she walked out on their marriage after having an affair with her scuba diving instructor and has since returned to Germany with her lover.

She claimed she had to apply for another passport and secretly opened bank accounts prior to fleeing the marriage.

Mrs Jones was convicted of six counts of furnishing false information, four charges of obtaining money by deception, and two counts of dishonestly making false representation.

Mr Jones was convicted of four charges of obtaining money transfer by deception, one count of furnishing false information and two counts of dishonestly making false representation.

The couple were given bail and are due to be sentenced next month.