Evri delivery driver claimed £235,000 in benefits despite saying he couldn’t bend over

The couple filled out falsified benefits claims (Picture: Facebook)

An Evri delivery driver who swindled more than a quarter of a million pounds by falsely claiming he couldn’t bend over has been jailed.

Paul Churchman was paid £235,000 in benefits alongside his wife Gemma after he claimed he could barely walk due to ‘agonising pain’.

At the same time, he earned £403,000 as a delivery driver for Evri, formerly Hermes, over 11 years, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

Despite making the equivalent of £36,000 a year between January 2013 and January 2024, he received £105,786 of housing benefit, £45,411 of income support and £38,404 in Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

He got this on top of £24,562 of Universal Credit, £9,589 in Jobseekers’ Allowance and £8,081 in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), as well as a council tax reduction of £3,340. 

The 49-year-old and his wife, 42, have only repaid £3,500, with a payment plan set up at the rate of £250 a month.

The judge slammed the pair at their sentencing hearing on Wednesday, telling them they swindled ‘every taxpayer, council tax payer and business tax payer’ through their dishonesty.

The couple have only repaid £3,500 (Picture: Facebook)

Mr Churchman was sentenced to three years in jail. Wife Gemma was spared prison after he took full responsibility for their collective actions.

During the 11 years of benefits claims, the delivery driver pretended his wife prepared his meals because he could not bend over to reach pots and pans in the cupboard, the court heard.

Prosecutor Kiera Vinall added: ‘In relation to personal care, he said he needed help getting in and out of the bath and on some days he said his back seized up such that he needed help going to the toilet and struggled to walk 10 to 20m [11 to 22 yards] without the movement bringing on agonising pain.

‘All of those representations were untrue and contributed to payments in personal independence allowance of £38,404.’

She added that Mr Churchman did not correct the claims despite multiple opportunities.

He then involved his wife in the scam, as she filled out claims for income support, Universal Credit and council tax reduction after claiming her husband was jobless.

The court heard he had similar offences in the past and was jailed in 2010 for stealing from an employer.

The couple’s lawyer Nadia Semlali argued for the pair to walk free with suspended sentences.

She told the court they acted ‘out of desperation’ because they were struggling to make ends meet and look after their children.

Mr Churchman had not been working when he first claimed benefits but then became self-employed, the court heard.

He had also been in ‘substantial debt’ when he made the majority of the fraudulent benefits claims.

Semali added: ‘The defendants were in a dire situation. They make no excuse for their actions and fully accept their roles. They are deeply remorseful and ashamed.

‘They were losing their home – they had bailiffs knocking at their door because of all the debt incurred. They knew he was earning and that deceiving the DWP is a very serious offence.

Mr Churchman claimed thousands for a bad back but still worked for a delivery company (Picture: Shutterstock / Go My Media)

‘However, the money he was earning was to make ends meet and to pay back some of the debt they had incurred. It was an act of desperation. 

‘They are really trying to turn their life around and refrain from this kind of behaviour. Their children are their paramount consideration.’

The delivery driver pleaded guilty to three offences of failing to notify a change in circumstances, two of making a dishonest representation to obtain benefit, one of fraud and one of making a false representation to obtain benefit.

Gemma Churchman admitted two offences of failing to notify a change in circumstances, one of making a dishonest representation to obtain benefit, one of fraud and one of making a false representation to obtain benefit.

She was handed an 18-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, as well as an order to complete 25 days of rehabilitation activities and pay £1,000 in prosecution costs.

Mr Churchman’s lawyer also argued that the delivery driver’s ADHD made him prone to acting ‘on the spur of the moment’.

But this was rejected by Record Matthew Hellens, who pointed to the fact his offending took place over more than a decade.

He added: ‘On each occasion, if you were acting with impulsivity, you would have had an opportunity to step back and change what you had done.

‘You involved your wife in what you did. She too could have helped you or demonstrated to you the decisions you were making [were wrong], and you chose not to put right those things you had done in the course of your criminal behaviour.

‘So while I’m alive very much to the fact of your diagnosis, I cannot see it impacted the decisions you made that led to the pattern of offending in this matter.’

He also slammed the swindling delivery driver for involving his wife, who had no previous convictions, in his scams.

He went on: ‘Not only did you take from the people of this country a total sum of £235,000, you pulled your wife into criminality.’

‘You had, shortly before this matter, received sentences for dishonesty and, it appears, in relation to claims as well. You knew with open eyes what you were doing.

‘It’s one thing to have made the fraudulent claims that you have and be dishonest in the way you have, but to bring your wife into that circle of criminality is something I think you will pay the price for for the rest of your days.’

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