A FORMER mayor accused of disability benefit fraud told a court he was genuinely ill and was frequently in pain. 

Ex-mayor of Sefton John Walker, 57, and his wife Catie, 49, are accused of conspiring to fraudulently obtain more than £47,000 in income support and disability living allowance.

The couple, of Farmer Place, Bootle, each deny both charges.

The prosecution allege the couple failed to declare Catie Walker worked as a school escort for children with special needs and had been paid to distribute advertising for a taxi firm and that John Walker was fit despite claiming on benefit forms he had a range of health complaints.

Prosecution witnesses have told the jury they saw Walker moving around unaided at mayoral functions and did not appear to be in difficulty.

On benefits applications John Walker claimed he suffered several disabilities and needed constant care from his wife.

The jury has heard he claimed he was unable to walk very far without pain and he said he needed assistance when outdoors as he suffered from dizziness and blackouts,  frequently falling or stumbling.

The court has also been told Walker claimed he found word selection and speaking a problem.

John Walker told the court he had been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as ME, and genuinely suffered from the ailments he had submitted on the forms.

 He said he managed to deliver speeches on mayoral visits through repeating the same phrases to different groups.

He told the jury he took a large amount of medication each day and his wife looked after him.

 He said: “Catie would help.

“It was support and if I had falls, believe me, they are very frightening and disorientating and I didn’t know when I was going to have them, so it was confidence.

"Catie had a huge knowledge of my condition.

“She could see me and could tell what was happening - sometimes my colour would go high or it would get what she calls as grey-green.

“She would say if I was slurring my speech and she would recognise and know if I wasn’t quite right.”

Cross-examining Walker, Teresa Loftus, told the court the Walker household was receiving £1,000 a month in benefits and they were paying around £300 a month for their daughter to go to the private Streatham House School in Blundellsands.

She suggested Walker must have found their lifestyle financially hard.

Walker replied: “Catie dealt with the finances and I wasn’t aware it was difficult.

 “I never looked at the bank account.

“That’s because Catie has always looked after those things and always wanted to.”

(Proceeding)