DJ found in contempt of court for attempting to claim £837,000 from NHS

A DJ from Birmingham named Sandip Singh Atwal has been found in contempt of court after he attempted to claim £837,000 from the NHS for negligence, according to the BBC.

Atwal, who DJs under the alias Sunny, suffered injuries to his hands and lip when he was attacked by someone with a baseball bat while working for his family's taxi firm in 2008. He was then treated at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary for fractures to his index finger of his right hand and the ring finger of his left hand, plus a laceration to his lower lip.

He later claimed that the treatment he received was negligent, resulting in Atwal being unemployed because he could no longer DJ and he apparently became dependent. This prompted him to bring up a claim for negligent treatment. Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust admitted to this and offered £30,000 to settle the case.

Not satisfied with the settlement, Atwal asked for £837,109, citing that he was suffering from disability, became self-conscious about his injuries and was now a social recluse. He also stated that he became dependent on alcohol and pain killers. This apparently mad him not able to DJ or work as a courier for the years between 2010 and 2015.

NHS grew suspicious and decided to put Atwal under surveillance, including an investigation of his social media accounts. The result revealed that Atwal was lying, according to the High Court judge Mr Justice Spencer.

The NHS surveillance found Atwal working and making music with no visible signs of discomfort. He was filmed while at work as a courier and there was also a music video for one of his singles which featured Atwal dancing around.

After being called out for fraud, Atwal said he would then accept the initial £30,000 settlement offer from NHS, but the judge ruled that the compensation must go to pay the trust's costs for the lawsuit. This left Atwal actually owing it £5,000 for the eight years of litigation.

The High Court found Atwal guilty of14 allegations of contempt relating to false statements. This is the first time an NHS trust has brought contempt proceedings against someone's fraudulent claims with regards to medical negligence.

Atwal will be sentenced on June 1 and faces the maximum sentence of two years in prison for each count of contempt.

[Via: BBC]