Jailed: conman accused of faking coma to avoid trial

The judge told Alan Knight that he was “as dishonest a man as [he had] ever come across” as he sentenced him to four and a half years in prison for cleaning out the bank accounts of dementia sufferer Ivor Richards.

Swansea crown court heard that 47-year-old Knight had also forged Mr Richards’ will – even using the names of two dead women from a newspaper’s obituary section as counter-signatories.

After he was arrested, he allegedly tried to blame his estranged son, claiming he was trying to set up him up.

Fraudster

Knight, who was pushed into and out of the court building in a wheelchair by a security guard but refused to attend his sentencing hearing, had previously said he was too unwell to attend proceedings after claiming to have suffered a serious neck injury.

He admitted himself to hospital and is accused of pretending to be a quadriplegic and in a coma for two years to evade justice. But CCTV footage showed him walking around on a shopping trip.

Judge Paul Thomas today passed sentence on the basis of the fraud and theft charges. He said accusations that Knight had tried to avoid court by faking illness would be the subject of a separate investigation.

Alan Knight is as dishonest a man as I have ever come across. Judge Paul Thomas

In passing sentence, Judge Thomas labelled jobless Knight as a thoroughly dishonest man who would use every trick in the book to try and escape responsibility for his actions.

He said: “He took a man in his 80s for every penny he could. He took advantage of that gentleman’s declining mental health.

“First, he pretended to befriend him and then using this trust he systematically stole money that amounted to more than £40,000 which that gentleman had worked hard to build up most of his working life.

“When these matters came to light he decided to do everything he could to avoid responsibility for his actions.

“He tried to blame his own son for what he had done – which resulted in him being arrested and accused his own son of being bribed by a police officer.

“It is clear that Alan Knight would stop at nothing in order to try and save his own skin.”