Bodybuilder claimed op left him too weak to elevate kettle – however Facebook outed lie

A bodybuilder’s bogus claim that a botched surgery had left him so weak he struggled to carry an empty kettle was revealed as a sham, thanks to social media.

Sean Murphy tried to fleece the Wye Valley NHS Trust out of £580,000 for damages, arguing that an operation on his bicep left him unable to carry out basic everyday actions.

The 39-year-old from Ross-on-Wye claimed the operation, which was supposed to fix a torn bicep tendon damaged during a rugby game in 2017 had damaged his elbow and led to nerve injury so bad, he couldn’t work, dress or hold a saucepan or carry clothes.

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The builder claimed he had to give up rugby and going to the gym, and was dependent on others to dress him.

However his sham fell apart when pictures and videos shared on Facebook showed Murphy playing rugby and lifting weights.

The mortally-wounded bodybuilder was busted working out with a three-stone kettle bell, bench-pressing 150 kilos, taking part in boxing training and playing for Ross-on Wye’s second rugby team, where, it was reported Murphy and the rest of the team’s front row “bullied their opposition numbers for the entire game”.

As a result of the images and video, Murphy’s damage’s claim was thrown out of court and was jailed for eight months for contempt of court at the High Court.

Sentencing judge Justice Mould said: “A more egregious act of selfish and self-serving deceit is hard to contemplate.”

He added that Murphy had made a “sustained and deliberate series of false statements and lies” and inflated his injury to a “massive degree”.

The scammer has also been slapped with a £200,000 court bill, which includes £40,000 in interim damages Murphy had received before he was exposed, and the cost of the NHS’s original claim, plus interest.

Following the trial at the High Court in October, Judge James Healy-Pratt branded Murphy as “fundamentally dishonest” as he dismissed his claim.

In his ruling, he said: “The evidence, including video footage, social media posts and other web-related evidence, is compelling in its weight and cogency.”

He then slammed Murphy’s claims as “wholly false”.

He said: “In truth, he had returned to playing rugby in October 2017, had returned to work, completing decking jobs and laying tarmac, had set up a new business, and had returned to the gym, lifting very heavy weights, bench pressing 150 kilos and participating in boxing training.”

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