Cavity Wall Claims Solicitors

A civil servant from the Department for Work and Pensions may face imprisonment after admitting to defrauding the government of over £41,000 in unauthorised expenses, a court has heard.

Maurice Okello, 39, also confessed to submitting a forged sick note to his employer in order to claim more than £4,000 in salary while travelling abroad under the pretence of being unfit for work. During this time, he visited destinations including Tampa, Mexico City, Boston, the Greek island of Kos, and Morocco, as well as making multiple trips to Brussels and Gothenburg, Sweden, between December 2022 and September 2023.

A man who kept an unlicensed alligator in his backyard has been ordered to pay nearly £1,000 in fines and costs. Ashley Betts, 32, housed Cliff, an American alligator, in a custom-built outhouse and tank for over a year before it was discovered and seized by police.

The 4ft-long reptile was found on July 11 of last year when officers visited Betts' home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, for an unrelated matter and asked to see his licence for the animal. At Sheffield Magistrates' Court, Betts claimed he was unaware that a licence was required to keep an alligator, which is native to the US and Mexico.

A teacher suffering from long Covid has been awarded more than £42,000 in compensation after being unfairly dismissed for excessive absences. Joanna White told an employment tribunal that when she raised concerns about her health, her deputy headteacher told her she "just had to get on with it."