Bodybuilder who sued NHS over claims surgery left him incapacitated jailed after being caught playing rugby

A bodybuilder who sued the NHS after claiming that a botched surgery left him incapacitated has been jailed after he was caught playing rugby and lifting weights.

Sean Murphy, 39, tore a bicep whilst playing rugby in March 2017, and underwent surgery to correct it – a procedure he claimed left him unable to do basic tasks.

The 39-year-old, from Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, said the operation had resulted in him losing the ability to play rugby, work, or dress himself and subsequently sued the Wye Valley NHS Trust for £580,000 in compensation.

However, his claims soon started to unravel after photos and videos emerged on social media of Murphy back in the and lifting weights.

The 39-year-old has now been jailed for eight months for contempt of court at the High Court in London.

He almost must pay £200,000 in court fees, which includes the interim damages of £40,000 he had been paid before his ruse unravelled, as well as the NHS’s costs of the original claim and contempt case.

At the High Court, Justice Mould said: “A more egregious act of selfish and self-serving deceit is hard to contemplate.”

The avid rugby player said his hobby was brought to an abrupt end when he underwent surgery on his elbow, a procedure he said failed and resulted in a painful nerve injury.

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Whilst the NHS conceded that Murphy was entitled to some damages, they said the claim was worth about £5,000, and the £580,000 bid was a “gross exaggeration”.

However, in 2022, his lies were brought to light when officials discovered videos of him on Facebook lifting a three-stone kettlebell, playing rugby for Ross-on-Wye’s second team, and weightlifting to the song Karma Chameleon by Culture Club.

Mould said the video evidence proved “beyond reasonable belief” that he was experiencing “no significant weakness” in his arm.

He concluded: “I am satisfied that he deliberately lied to each expert by volunteering the false impression that he had been unable to play rugby.

“I find the allegations of contempt to have been proved to the criminal standard of proof.

“He is in contempt of court by giving false information to four medical experts and in that he made false statements in documents verified by a statement of truth.

“In my judgement, the shortest period of imprisonment I am able to impose is eight months.”