By Harley Tamplin From Metro.co.uk

A benefits cheat will miss his wedding and Caribbean honeymoon next month after he was jailed for 16 months for falsely claiming almost £77,000.

Barry Firmager took part in a 100-mile walk for charity and was seen visiting a gym while claiming disabilty allowance among other benefits that he was not entitled to.

A judge told the 47-year-old that his offending was so serious he could not be spared immediate custody, and told him the wedding plans should not have been made as he was aware of his court dates.

Firmager, formerly of Rochester in Kent but now of Williton, Somerset, suffers from a degenerative bone disease, arthritis and walks with a stick, and also looks after his dementia-suffering father.

Maidstone Crown Court heard he falsely claimed income support, employment and support allowance, disability living allowance and council tax benefit for six years.

He also failed to inform the Department of Work and Pensions and Medway Council in Kent of a change in his financial circumstances when he was awarded a £200,000 payout in 2006 from a traffic accident.

He used the payout to buy a house in Florida and a property in the UK that he rented out and received income from, the court heard.

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Firmager, who claimed a total of £76,743, pleaded guilty to four offences of failing to notify a change in circumstances.

Jailing him, Judge Heather Baucher said he should have given the court proceedings ‘priority’ over his wedding, which was set to go ahead on September 10, with the reception venue and honeymoon all booked.

The judge said: ‘You were interviewed in 2014 about these matters and although your committal for sentence by magistrates post-dates the wedding booking, you should have had these matters at the forefront of your mind before you set about making your wedding plans.’

Mary Jacobson, defending, said the US property has since been repossessed and the UK house was sold four years ago.

She also told the court Firmager did not complete the full 100-mile cancer charity walk in memory of his mother as it worsened his pre-existing medical condition, and his gym visits were made on medical advice to assist his recovery from knee replacement surgery.

IMAGES:
Barry Firmager was due to get married in September (Picture: Facebook)

Benefits cheat to miss his wedding and Caribbean honeymoon after being jailed
Firmager was jailed at Maidstone Crown Court (Picture: PA)

Benefits cheat to miss his wedding and Caribbean honeymoon after being jailed The judge did not pity him for losing the money spent on the wedding (Picture: Facebook)

For more on this story go to: http://metro.co.uk/2017/08/08/benefits-cheat-to-miss-his-wedding-and-caribbean-honeymoon-after-being-jailed-6836868/#ixzz4pNenkzv9