Last updated 08:15, Friday, 14 March 2008

A MAN waiting for a kidney transplant appeared at Carlisle Crown Court yesterday, accused of claiming nearly £22,000 in benefits that he wasn’t entitled to.

Neale Caton, 43, of Windsor Road, Workington, who is expecting to go into hospital in Newcastle at any time for a transplant, pleaded guilty to three charges of failing to notify the authorities for three years that he had capital of more than £3,000.

But, the court heard, the only reason he had the capital in the first place was that he had been given it in benefits.

The court heard Caton should have admitted a "change of circumstances" when he received a lump sum in arrears in income support from the Department of Work and Pensions.

His barrister Greg Hoare said that if he had spent it immediately he would have been able to go on claiming benefits.

But because he invested it in an ISA it meant it exceeded the threshold for the amount of money claimants are allowed in the bank before benefits are stopped.

"While Prime Minister Gordon Brown might preach prudence, it seems the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions James Purnell encourages profligacy," he said.

Caton was remanded on bail for background reports and will be sentenced on April 11.