A WYE Valley bodybuilder who claimed £580,000 in compensation over a ‘botched’ operation, and then posted videos of himself playing rugby and lifting heavy weights has been jailed for eight months for attempting to defraud the NHS.

Sean Murphy, a builder from Ross-on-Wye, was found to have been fundamentally dishonest about his injuries in his attempt to claim compensation from the Wye Valley NHS Trust in 2022, with footage also showing him curling a barbell to 80s' hit Karma Chameleon.

And now he has been jailed at the High Court in London for contempt of court.

Exercise bike
EXERCISE: Sean Murphy pictured on an exercise bike that was posted on social media in July 2020. (NHS Resolution)

Murphy, now 39, stated in his claim which he submitted in 2021, that he had been left disabled following a failed biceps tendon repair, which he originally sustained while playing rugby for Ross RFC in March 2017.

He stated that the operation had reduced his grip strength and that he was now dependent on others as he was unable to dress himself or pick up anything heavier than an empty kettle.

A part of his compensation claim against the NHS was that he could no longer play rugby, return to his employment as a builder or work out in the gym.

The Wye Valley NHS Trust had admitted that surgery on March 31, 2017, was not performed to an acceptable standard, and that Murphy had suffered injury as a consequence.

The trust apologised for that failure, and interim payments for Murphy’s damages and costs were paid at the time.

However, Murphy’s exaggeration was later identified when an individual called the NHS fraud line.

Rugby player
FRONT ROW: Sean Murphy in action for Ross Seconds (Submitted)

The informant stated that press articles depicted Murphy playing rugby for Ross 2nds in November 2017 – eight months after his surgery – and that he had posted videos of himself showing him weightlifting and exercising.

Wye Valley Trust initiated legal action and at a hearing in 2022, Deputy High Court Judge Mr Healy-Pratt found the evidence of the claimant playing rugby, weightlifting and working was “unambiguous and damning”.

He added that his assertions that he could not do any of those things were “wholly false”.

The Judge assessed that if the claim had been honestly presented it would have been worth no more than 0.85 per cent – £4,250 – of the total claimed, and concluded that the damages claim actually presented was “fraudulent on a massive scale.”

He dismissed the claim on grounds of fundamental dishonesty and ordered Murphy to repay interim payments of £40,000 and legal costs of £10,000.