Man faked being in a coma for two years to avoid standing trial for theft, forgery
Alan Knight is as devious as they come.
You wouldn't want him as your neighbour. You wouldn't want him as your father.
The British man conned his frail, elderly neighbour out of his life savings. And when he was arrested, he blamed his son, claiming he had been set up.
After investigators cleared his son of wrongdoing, Knight, 47, pretended to be a quadriplegic and in a coma.
He made trips to the hospital to avoid going to court and lived on benefits.
The conman even enlisted his wife's help in keeping up the charade by caring for him.
Theft and forgery
He managed to keep up pretences for two years before he was caught on closed-circuit television camera pushing a trolley around a supermarket, reported Metro.
Doctors at the hospital also spotted him eating, wiping his face and writing - actions impossible for someone who supposedly cannot move his limbs.
Knight was jailed for four and a half years on Friday after admitting to theft and forgery, The Telegraph reported.
Elderly victim
The father-of-three funnelled more than £40,000 (S$82,000) out of the bank account of his neighbour Ivor Richards and used it to pay for holidays and a caravan, reported BBC.
He even forged Mr Richards' will.
Mr Richards, is in his 80s, is a pensioner who suffers from dementia.
Dishonest man
The Telegraph reported Judge Paul Thomas as saying: "Alan Knight is as dishonest a man as I have ever come across."
He added: "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."
Sources: The Telegraph, BBC, Metro
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