Hudson/Barnett Saints and Scroungers

Saint And Scroungers puts the spotlight on benefit thieves.

People who steal millions from the British taxpayer.

We also search out the saints.

People who help put unclaimed cash into the hands of those who really need it.

Saints And Scroungers is all about busting benefit thieves who steal millions every year,

and the crack teams of investigators determined to scupper their devious scams.

We also shine a light on those who genuinely need the money and the people who help them get it.

They are our saints. The saints get help

and the fraudsters get their comeuppance.

Coming up on today's show.

The dentist who shamelessly stole £307,000 from the NHS,

despite already earning a six-figure salary.

-So well in excess of £400,000 he had coming in each year.

-Thereabouts, yes.

Gordon Bennett! He was rolling in it.

And we meet the teenager who hit rock bottom

and struggled to turn her life around.

They said if you breach this, we'll send you to jail

because you're not listening

And my heart just sunk. I thought, "I can't do time in jail."

Working as a dentist carries with it a sort of respectability.

You've trained hard and you are paid well

for looking after the teeth and gums of the nation.

Open wide, please.

Working as a prison dentist is perhaps not the most rewarding job...

There's a bit of tartar build-up there.

..Unless, of course, you're getting paid for it twice by the taxpayer.

I can see problems ahead.

John Hudson had built a nice lifestyle for himself, his wife and three kids,

thanks to years of hard work running a dental practice in his home time of Rochdale,

where he catered for private and NHS patients.

But he had another string to his bow.

For the past ten years, he's been working

at nearby Altcourse Prison to provide dental services for inmates.

So far, so respectable. but imagine the shock

when it became known that this apparently decent pillar of the community

was suspected of cheating the NHS out of a whopping £306,961.

That is a pretty breathtaking figure and I wanted to know

if fraud on that scale was common in the NHS.

So I went along to the headquarters of NHS Protect,

the dedicated division whose job it is to tackle crime across the health service.

Liz Wood is an anti-fraud specialist with NHS Protect.

Her main focus is dental fraud.

If you were to investigate a case, when would you start doing it?

Is there a line, where over a certain amount you start investigating?

Generally, I don't investigate anything under £100,000.

-Wow, a lot of money.

-It's an awful lot of money.

NHS Protect clearly deals with a lot of dental fraud every year

but even by Liz's standards, the sums involved in the John Hudson case were huge.

How on Earth had it all come about?

Her Majesty's Prison Altcourse is a privately run prison.

Who pays for dental treatment there?

Until fairly recently, it was provided by a private company.

This private company would employ their own dentist,

or dentists, one of them being John Hudson, correct?

Yes, that's true.

So John Hudson had a contract worth a considerable amount of money with a private medical provider

to do dental work at HMP Altcourse.

Pauline Smith, head of anti-fraud at NHS Protect in the North West,

takes up the story.

It was established that Mr Hudson had held a contract

for providing dental services at HMP Altcourse since 1998.

He was paid on a sessional basis £400 per session,

usually two sessions per day, two days per week.

Hmm. A nice little earner, you might think,

but keeping the nation's gnashers in good nick is a responsible job.

And you would expect an experienced dentist to be well paid.

Hmm.

HMP Altcourse is in Liverpool, but because he was working there under a private contract,

Hudson had no direct contact with Liverpool NHS.

But, in 2004, the rules changed and all dentists were required to register

with a local Primary Care Trust, so Hudson duly reported to Liverpool PCT.

Mr Hudson was issued with his dental-contract number,

which would allow him to commence being paid for NHS services he provided.

As far as we were aware, Mr Hudson, however,

continued to provide dental services under private contract.

So as far as the authorities were concerned, everything was above board.

But jump forward to 2008

and a routine phone call from the prison's private medical provider

to Liverpool Primary Care Trust reveals a very different story.

When did you become aware something wasn't quite right with what John Hudson was doing?

Basically, there was a new manager arrived at the prison

and decided to check whether the amounts they were paying for lab work,

that's dentures, bridges, crowns,

whether they were in the right sort of area.

Because there's a vast difference in the amounts that you can pay for lab work.

The new manager rang up the local Primary Care Trust and said,

"Can you give you some advice?"

And the people in the Primary Care Trust were very surprised about this,

because they thought they were paying for the dental treatment, rather than the prison.

Hang on a minute, so who was paying John Hudson?

Was it the private medical company, or was it the NHS?

At this point, both parties were in a state of confusion.

Both appeared to be holding contracts for the provision of dental services within HMP Altcourse.

Clearly, there was either an error, or something was not quite right.

But there was no denying the one figure at the centre of all this -

John Hudson. The dentist was suspended from his duties with immediate effect

while the NHS Protect fraud team started to investigate.

Pauline knew that John Hudson had registered with Liverpool PCT in 2004.

So she was able to access his records.

The first thing we did was extracted both contracts,

both the privately held contract and the NHS contract

to establish any evidence of overlap

or to identify which was accurate and which, if any, was incorrect.

Hudson's private contract with the prison showed

that he had started there in 1998 and was being paid around £120,000 a year.

His NHS contract, however, didn't start until 2006.

In 2006, Mr Hudson negotiated an NHS dental contract

to provide dental services at HMP Altcourse with Liverpool Primary Care Trust.

The contract was worth £136,000 per annum,

paid monthly at £12,000 per month.

So Hudson's NHS contract at 12 grand a month

was worth even more than his private one at a mere 10 grand a month.

But, how had he managed to swindle the NHS

into giving him a contract with HMP Altcourse,

when he was already working there in a private capacity?

To understand how this could have happened,

we have to go back to 2006, when the NHS changed the way it paid its dentists.

Up to 2006, they were paid for every dental procedure they provided.

For example, every check-up, every scale and polish

and every filling provided.

From 2006, the NHS paid its dentists on an annual contract.

It seems that this change in the rules presented Hudson

with an opportunity for fraud that he couldn't resist.

Tell me about John Hudson.

He applied to get a contract

specifically to supply NHS work to the prison,

despite the fact that he was being paid privately to provide the same work.

On his application form there is actually a box you're supposed to tick

to say, "I do some work privately," but that is blank.

-This is a copy of the form.

-OK.

-Independent, private.

-That box is not ticked.

So the fact that he hasn't ticked the box

means the NHS are assuming he's not doing private work?

Yes, the NHS takes these things at face value.

It's a prison contract, we assume he's not doing private work.

So it was becoming clear that for the past two years,

Hudson had been cynically ripping off the NHS to the tune of around £136,000 a year,

while being paid £120,000 by the private medical company

But that wasn't the half of it.

He also had his personal practice, the other one, the dental practice.

He had an NHS contract, which in 2010,

was worth just under £195,000.

Plus any private work that he did.

-So well in excess of £400,000 he had coming in each year?

-Yes.

Gordon Bennett! He was rolling in it.

Later, Hudson clearly had no qualms about stealing money from the NHS

to line his own pockets, but what would happen

when his extravagant lifestyle caught up with him?

When he was actually on holiday in the Caribbean,

he said he was treating patients at the same time.

-While he's on a beach, he's putting claims in for treatment he wasn't doing?

-That's true.

And still to come, we meet the benefit cheat

whose love of the golf course would be his undoing.

That person portrayed on the claim form was not really consistent

with somebody playing golf three or four times a week.

Next, it's farewell to the scroungers and hello to the saints.

The innocent men and women all over the UK in dire need of Government help.

And the people who show them the way to claim what they deserve.

Growing up in care can be difficult

and a lot of people get over that hurdle.

But, do you know, about a third of children who leave care

end up employed and on Jobseeker's Allowance?

19-year-old Ella Barnett went into care at 13 and spent

the next three years going from school to school

and from foster parent to care home.

Life was never going to be easy for this teenager.

I went into care between 13 and 14.

I went a lot off the rails,

drinking, stealing, smoking.

I didn't think anyone cared about me, so I thought, "Why do I care?"

Ella's clearly had the kind of childhood you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.

I've come along to Ashford in Kent to meet her and find out how she's doing now.

-Right. Tell me about you, Ella. 19-years-old?

-Yes.

-You've had quite a life, though?

-Yes.

-Tell me about it.

My mum and dad split up when I was younger.

My mum left, my dad took care of me and my little sister.

Tell me about the problems you remember.

My dad not being in a stable relationship,

-there were a lot of people coming in and out of our lives.

-Yep.

Did you feel you weren't getting the parental love you expected?

Yeah. Definitely.

I just felt it was me against the world.

-What about your sister?

-My sister, we didn't get along.

It was just that clash. She wanted my dad, I wanted my dad.

If she got more attention, I'd get jealous,

if I got more attention, she'd get jealous.

Things were made worse because Ella's father was often away from home working.

I started misbehaving when my dad was going away.

My dad would come home and start shouting.

I just thought, "I don't want this."

So I was just going out all the time, I didn't care.

-I'd sneak out of the windows.

-Yeah.

-How old were you?

-I was about 10, 11.

Things were bad at home and, by now, Ella's schoolwork was suffering.

If I did go to school, I wouldn't do my homework.

I didn't really bother at school, I just didn't care at school any more.

But the problems really began when Ella was 13

and she started drinking and shoplifting.

-Did the police get involved?

-Yeah, they did.

I went to court I don't how many times. I lost track.

-How young were you?

-I think was 13 when I first went.

-Into a court?

-Yeah.

-Charged with theft?

-Yes.

What happened?

-I went on community service.

-Right.

-I had to do a lot of that.

One night, Ella was involved in a fight at a party.

The police were called and she was taken into custody.

At the age of 13, you had spent a night in a police cell?

Yeah.

You had court judgments ordering you to do community service.

-Your life is spiralling out of control?

-Yeah, definitely.

It was at this point that Ella's father couldn't cope any more

and Ella was put into care.

I got to the care home and it was young children, just like myself, going through what I'm going through.

I just wanted to go home, but I knew I couldn't.

Yeah, it was horrible.

-How did you actually feel, as a person?

-I felt like rubbish.

I didn't feel like I should be honest. I hated it.

I really hated it.

While in care, Ella fell into bad company.

One day, she was involved in a serious theft.

She was put on a curfew and made to wear

an electronic ankle bracelet for six months.

They said, "If you breach this,

"we will send you to jail, because you're not listening."

My heart just sunk. I thought, "I know I can't do time in jail.

"I won't handle it in there." So, yes, that hit me.

Even though she had avoided prison, because she had just turned 16,

Ella now had something she could never escape - a criminal record.

Around this time, Ella had to leave care.

Because she could not legally claim benefits until she was 18,

she was given £50 a week from Social Services and a flat to live in,

but, sadly, that didn't last long.

I was just letting anyone stay over.

There was a lot of fights going on.

I was, like, "They won't kick a 16-year-old out!" But what happened?

-They did.

-Where did you end up?

-I went to a really horrible B&B.

There was needles everywhere.

There was alcoholics.

Weren't very nice people.

'What made matters worse,

'was that the B&B was in a strange town where she knew no-one.'

-How long were you at the B&B for?

-Between two and three months.

How would you describe that period in your life?

The worst, actually, the worst point in my life, that.

At this time, Ella had been assigned a social worker,

but at this point, her case was taken over by Robin Nolan, of the charity Catch 22,

who are contracted by Kent Council to run their Leaving Care services.

Initially, when I first met Ella,

she was distrusting of anyone at that moment in time.

Robin come upstairs and I said,

"If you're not going to do nothing, I don't want to know none of you."

After a brief discussion,

we actually agreed that she needed to move back to her hometown

and I made an appointment with Ella to go to the

local council office and register herself as a homeless young person,

and used the homeless legislation to get Ella rehoused.

He got me out in a week and I was really happy.

Back in Ashford, Robin managed to get Ella her own flat,

which she moved into with her boyfriend, Paul.

By this time, she was 18,

so Robin was also able to help apply for Jobseeker's Allowance.

Things were definitely looking up for Ella,

but although she was no longer in physical danger,

she was in danger of becoming a statistic, another teenager

leaving the care system with no job prospects and relying on benefits.

I had nothing, no experience in anything,

what I wanted to do, had no NVQ, nothing.

But then, one day, Ella got a letter from the Job Centre.

A government scheme called The Future Jobs Fund was asking

her to attend an interview with a local authority funded charity

called Kent Children's Fund Network or KCFN.

They organised play activities for children in schools

and youth clubs, all over the county.

Didn't know who they were, nothing about them.

What did that letter say?

Said I had an interview so I thought I'd go to it.

The job interview was a golden opportunity for Ella,

but with so many young people unemployed,

would her criminal record stand in her way?

I thought they'd just look at the paperwork

and go, "Not having her."

But first, we revisit the devious world of the scrounger.

And here's a message to those benefits thieves out there. Smile!

You're on camera.

They think they're clever. They think they can beat the system.

Every year, thousands of benefit cheats get put under surveillance.

Welcome to the undercover world of benefit fraud investigators

and the cheats they love to catch out.

People say you cannot beat a round of golf.

It's a great way to relax, get some exercise, enjoy the great outdoors.

What could be better than getting out there on a regular basis?

Like this chap, happy as Larry, as he goes out

and enjoys his weekly round of golf without a care in the world.

Who would have thought such an innocent pastime

could land someone in such big trouble?

Because the surprising thing about this golfer, is that

despite the fact that he plays at least once a week up, covering an

average of four miles per round, he claims to be suffering from such

severe rheumatoid and osteoarthritis that he can barely walk.

In fact, 51-year-old Peter Crowder's condition

was so bad, in 2005 he had to retire from his job as a psychiatric nurse

and started claiming benefits worth £45 a week.

A couple of years later, and he's back for more.

It seems his condition worsened, so he made another claim

and increased his weekly benefits to over £100.

In August 2007 he made a claim for the mobility element

of Disability Living Allowance,

and at that time was awarded the highest rate of mobility

allowance and his care component was increased to the highest rate,

just based on what he said on the claim form at that time.

Then the National Benefit Fraud Hotline received an anonymous

tipoff saying that Peter Crowder wasn't as disabled as he claimed

and had been spotted on a golf course.

How can I put this? Working on his handicap?

First and foremost we needed to see for ourselves him playing golf.

We were able to put Mr Crowder under surveillance

and we saw him unpacking his clubs and playing a round of golf.

He was playing several times a week without any ailments whatsoever.

Over a period of time, Mr Crowder played golf on 151 occasions

over a three-year period and competed in 49 competitions.

It sounds like Crowder never missed an opportunity to

practise his swing, and as a regular fixture at his local golf club,

he must have been out there in all weathers.

Now that doesn't sound like a man suffering from serious arthritis.

Let's go back to those claim forms and take another look.

The DLA claim form showed he was in constant pain

and couldn't get dressed without any assistance,

taking four, five, six minutes to climb stairs

and was unable to use a bath, having difficulty with his care needs.

He needed help getting undressed couldn't hold implements,

he didn't have the grip in his hands.

So that person that was portrayed on the claim form was not really

consistent with somebody who's playing golf three or four times

a week and gripping a golf club.

But that's his opinion. What does our expert think?

This is Mr Crowder.

He's just arrived at the golf club.

He's lifted quite a heavy weight out of the boot.

He's pushing his golf trolley.

He doesn't seem to be walking with any difficulty whatsoever.

I'm basically looking for signs of pain

and stiffness which are the symptoms of arthritis.

He doesn't seem to be limping

and there seems to be no inhibition of his movements at all.

Playing golf requires a full range of movements

and if someone's got arthritis in any of those areas,

it can affect the way they play.

The DWP were now satisfied they'd got all the evidence they needed

and Peter Crowder was called in and interviewed under caution.

At first, he denied everything, but then they pulled out their proof.

Mr Crowder was eventually shown the footage

and he admitted that he should have put on the claim form that he

was capable of playing golf and he couldn't understand why

he had omitted to put that down on the claim form.

In a panic, Crowder then remortgaged his house in order to pay

back £20,000 worth of illegally obtained benefits.

But by then, it was too late.

In August 2011, Peter Crowder was convicted of failing to declare a change in his circumstances

and making a false statement to obtain more benefits in 2007.

He was sentenced to six months in jail.

Another scrounger banged to rights.

That's one golfer who is decidedly below-par.

Now it's back to the good guys.

By any standards, Ella Barnett has had a rough start in life.

In care at 13, by 16 she was dossing in a B&B with alcoholics and drug addicts.

Thanks to the prompt actions of her social worker that she was plucked to safety.

Soon as he said, "Right, we're going", I couldn't believe it.

My heart melted. I thought no-one was going to help me again.

-How long did it take you to pack your case?

-Two minutes, I think.

Back in her hometown of Ashford, things were looking up for Ella.

She was now in her own flat

and had been asked by the Job Centre to attend an interview

at Kent Children's Fund Network or KCFN, for short.

KCFN is a not-for-profit charity.

We deliver youth service activity,

working with young people that are hard to engage, and vulnerable young people.

A large part of KCFN's work involves organising play sessions

for these vulnerable kids and Garnet was looking for two assistant play workers

for a six-month, fully-paid contract.

It's an opportunity for them to progress,

to gain the skills, to work alongside experienced play workers,

gain new skills and then also progress on to qualifications.

Although she had been identified by the Job Centre as a suitable candidate,

Ella was totally lacking in self-confidence

and felt like she didn't have a hope of getting the job.

I thought, "Oh, I'm not going to look for a job, cos I'm never going to get nothing."

My criminal record was going to affect me, like,

working with children.

I thought they was just going to look at the paperwork

in black and white and thought, "Not having her".

But encouraged by her boyfriend,

Ella did pluck up the courage to go along to the interview.

When you went along, how many other people were up for the job?

Um, there was five of us, I think.

It was a group interview.

-Right. How did you feel?

-Nervous. Really nervous at that point.

I thought, I'm not going to get it, there's other people here,

more talent working with children, more experience...

Yeah, I was so nervous, Dom!

I didn't know nothing.

The interview process could appear quite daunting.

We want to see how that young person will engage with young people,

and so we set up a role-play situation

and it's quite interesting to see some of the results from that.

I was doing my best that I could, I answered a lot of questions,

but anyone in an interview panics and thinks they're not going to

get the job, someone else is going to get it.

But at the end, I think I done really well.

Ella really stood out because of her big personality.

She came across as a young person who could engage other young people

and we saw potential in Ella.

A few days later,

and Ella was back at home, waiting nervously by the phone.

My heart was racing, I thought they were going to say the position

has been filled, you're not going to get it.

A KCFN member, he phoned me and said, "Congratulations,

"you've got the job" - I must have screamed down that phone!

Garnet had given Ella the job because she'd done so well at the interview.

To him, her past was just her past.

Although Ella had a criminal record, she had disclosed that to us,

and we felt that as an organisation,

we give every young person a chance and we didn't see that as a risk.

Want me to join in with you?

Garnet also knew that this job represented Ella's first real chance to turn her life around.

The good thing about the play-worker placement was that it was a paid position.

They got to work with skilled play-workers that had been doing it for many years

and they were able to gain confidence and become employable.

-And what's your name?

-Amber.

-Amber. I'm Ella.

-Hi, Ella.

The other lucky applicant was 20-year-old Sarah Lonsborough.

Like Ella, Sarah had been unemployed for a while.

Literally, it was just rejection letter after rejection letter.

It was really off-putting.

I was looking on the internet.

I was going into cafes and hotels handing in my CV and they were just like, "Yeah, we'll call you."

They never did.

The two girls met at the interview day and immediately got on.

Do you want to give it a go?

Instantly I clicked with her. She was amazing.

She just had such great ideas for play. It was just brilliant.

Hey!

So, within a year, Ella went from the pit of despair to being fully employed,

working at schools and youth centres all over Kent,

organising and participating in children's play sessions.

Tell me about the job. Are you just going in and helping out with kids?

Parents as well. We're helping with families. We go to a session, if they want to talk to us they can.

So is this disadvantaged families?

-Some.

-Some people got their own problems or children who've got problems?

-Yeah.

I can see why you'd be the ideal person for that

-because you've had that troubled background, haven't you?

-Yeah.

So I know what it's like. Definitely.

-Do you want me to help you?

-Yeah.

-Yeah? All right.

-Cos I'm only four.

-You're only four? That's still a big girl.

Ella grew tremendously, cos when she first came in,

she was very bright and you always knew when Ella was around.

But she wasn't as confident as she appeared to be.

She grew in confidence and was able flourish, really.

OK. And push your legs. Keep pushing.

Ella was gaining confidence by the bucketload,

and part of that was down to the fact that for the first time in her life,

she was off benefits and earning her own money.

That's it. Yay! Well done!

You are now getting a wage packet instead of Jobseeker's Allowance.

How did it feel when that first packet arrived?

It was lovely. Loved it.

-What did you do with it?

-I went shopping. I filled up my cupboards.

-Food?

-Food. The fridge was always full.

-Yep.

-What about some of the other things you bought?

-I bought new sofas.

Because I could afford a new one,

I gave my old one to the youth centre.

All right, let's go.

Ella was clearly in her element at KCFN.

Aw, you're winning!

But sadly, the job was only ever going to last for six months.

Luckily for her, that didn't mean going back to square one, because Garnet stuck by her.

Ella was of course upset that the work placement ended,

but we had an opportunity to sit down and talk about the future,

and one of the options we took up was that Ella do the Children And Young Person's qualification,

which is the equivalent to an NVQ Level 2.

That will give Ella the opportunity to progress onto social care qualifications,

which she wants to do in future.

I was looking forward to catching up with Ella to find out how she'd been coping

since her six-month contract had ended.

-You loved that job, didn't you?

-Yes. I knew where I stood.

You were off benefits as well.

Yeah. Getting payslips, earning my own money.

Paying tax.

Shopping. Don't forget the shopping cos I know how much you love that.

So now you're on a training course at NVQ Level 2.

At the end of it you'll be a qualified child carer?

No. Children and young people work force.

-From there where do you go?

-My social worker, Robin,

is trying to get me on the course to be a social worker.

OK. That's a much longer course, isn't it?

-Yeah. Three years, it's going to take.

-OK. You fancy that?

-Yeah.

If I train to be a social worker and I go and see a young child

and they're like, "You don't know what I'm going through",

I'll say, "I do. I've been there. I know what you're going through."

-You've got the T-shirt, haven't you?

-Yeah.

-You done it.

But you've come out of it now, that's the thing.

You've had another little down in the fact this job ran out after six months

-but you're back on the ladder again.

-Yeah.

-Tell me where you're going to be in five years' time.

-A social worker.

-Full-time, qualified, employed.

-Yeah, social worker.

-Yeah?

I'm going to come back and check on you in five years' time!

I'll make sure you will!

-Don't eat it!

-Why?

-Cos it's Play-Doh! You don't eat Play-Doh.

For the time being, Ella is back on Jobseeker's Allowance while she completes her NVQ,

but having got a taste of financial independence, hopefully it won't be long till she's fully employed

in a job that she loves and where she can make a difference.

Here you go, darling.

I am looking forward to the future. My goal is to be a social worker and I'm going to reach that goal.

I know it's going to take a few years,

and you've got to keep your head up high and it's going to be hard,

but you've got to stick by it.

If you want that in life, you've got to go for it.

What do you want to do, then? Football, all right. Shall we go and find a football?

While she's studying, Ella can do the odd play session for KCFN,

which means she can keep her hand in and stay in close touch with Garnet.

I think Ella can achieve anything she wants to. She's very driven.

She's got an idea of what she wants to do.

It's rewarding to see a young person like Ella progress and achieve.

It's inspiring, and as an organisation that's what we're all about.

Hey!

As a child, Ella got dealt a pretty rough hand. As a result of that,

she turned to crime and felt like there was no hope.

But it's thanks to saints like Garnet,

because people like him help turn lives around,

give people a second chance in life, and now Ella is on her way

to becoming one of those saints herself.

Back now to the world of a scrounger,

and the fraud investigators of NHS Protect

are grappling with one of the most audacious and cynical attempts

to defraud the NHS they had ever come across.

Rochdale dentist John Hudson

had been working under a private contract

at Her Majesty's Prison Altcourse near Liverpool.

However, Pauline Smith, anti-fraud specialist for NHS Protect in the North West,

had discovered that he had also managed to dupe his local Primary Care Trust

into giving him another contract for the same work.

Critically, he omitted to tick box F,

which would have immediately indicated to Liverpool Primary Care Trust

that the work he was completing at the prison was actually being paid for by the private medical provider.

It was time to call Hudson in for an interview to see if he could share the wisdom of this potential mix-up.

But getting answers out of this dentist was like pulling teeth.

Open wide. This may hurt a bit.

On the 27th of March 2009, John Hudson was asked

to attend the first of several interviews under caution.

In total Mr Hudson was interviewed on four separate occasions.

On each and every occasion, Mr Hudson maintained "no comment"

to every question put to him during the interviews.

The team now desperately needed to build a case that was going to stand up in court.

If Hudson wasn't going to co-operate,

then they need to look elsewhere for further proof of his wrongdoing.

Luckily, the evidence was there in black and white

in the form of the meticulous dental patient records kept by the prison,

which showed which prisoner had been seen where and what treatment they had received.

Anti-fraud specialist Liz Wood takes up the story.

Basically, we cross-checked all of the work

that he claimed to have done for NHS patients at the prison,

and we cross-checked that against the diaries in the prison.

We checked the patient record cards

to make sure he wasn't actually doing anything extra that could justify the claim to the NHS.

The team were worried that Hudson might claim that he needed the NHS contract

because he was seeing so many patients at the prison

that the money he was getting from the private medical company just didn't cover it.

Crucially, there was no other evidence of any appointments over and above those already paid for

under the terms of the private medical contract

that would require or justify payments to be made by the NHS.

But Pauline didn't stop there.

When they're investigating a fraud, NHS Protect are given special powers

to access the personal financial details of the suspected fraudster.

Pauline was able to comb through loads of paperwork relating to John Hudson,

including bank statements, credit card statements, as well as pay slips

from both the NHS and the private medical supplier.

This is a letter from Mr Hudson to the private medical provider,

where he's claiming for services that he has provided to the Trust

under his private contract.

Here we have an NHS payment advice that clearly shows credits

being made to Mr Hudson for the identical work that he's

already been paid for or claimed for from the private medical provider.

Together, these documents identify that, clearly,

Mr Hudson was being paid twice for one service he has provided

to the prison.

Bingo!

Pauline finally had the proof she needed,

that Hudson was lining his pockets at the expense of the old

and sick of Liverpool and the tax payer.

But it didn't stop there.

The evidence of his deceptions kept on piling up.

We even checked his credit card statements

and discovered that when he was on actually on holiday

in the Caribbean,

he said he was treating patients at the same time, at the prison.

He had the nerve to do that? While he's sunning himself,

he's putting claims in for treatment he wasn't doing?

That's true. Yes.

Sounds like there's a lovely paper trail of evidence.

There was a really good paper trail of evidence.

Not only was this dodgy dentist being paid twice

for the same job, but he was also invoicing for work

that was carried out while he and his family were swanning off abroad!

Cheek of it!

After months of investigation,

Pauline was satisfied that she had a water-tight case.

She had evidence that between May 2006 and July 2008,

Mr Hudson earned £280,000 from his private contract at HMP Altcourse.

For the same period,

he also received almost £307,000 from the NHS for the same services.

We were satsfied that none of the money Mr Hudson received

from the NHS was appropriate, because he'd already been paid

for the services he had provided to the prison

by the private medical provider.

It was time for John Hudson to face the music.

On the 4th October 2010, he was taken to court

and charged with 32 counts of dishonestly retaining wrongful credits

and two counts of fraud by false representation.

He had refused to cooperate with the investigation,

but on the day, Hudson realised that the writing was on the wall,

and pleaded guilty to 27 of the charges.

He returned to court on the 9th of November to hear his fate.

The judge ruled that John Hudson's fraud deserved a lengthy custodial sentence,

and he was sent to prison for 27 months.

In total, John Hudson had swindled the NHS out of £306,961.

For Pauline, it was a satisfactory conclusion

to a challenging investigation.

NHS Protect, overall, are very pleased with the outcome

in this case.

The NHS launched civil proceedings against Hudson

and got back every single penny.

The money was returned to Liverpool Primary Care Trust

to be used for its intended purpose -

'the care of the sick and elderly in Liverpool.

'And what does the future hold for Hudson?'

He's basically finished. He has to go before the GDC.

-The General Dentist Council?

-The General Dental Council.

-Hasn't his greed been his absolute downfall? Hasn't it?

-Undoubedly.

This is a man who could have earned a perfectly legitimate living,

earning far more than most people, and he needed more.

-Ten times more!

-Well, yes, he needed a lot more, didn't he?

In the end, the General Dental Council did vote to suspend

John Hudson from their dental practitioner's list.

This dentist's days of extracting money from the public purse

are well and truly over.

NHS investigators fought tooth and nail to bring him to justice,

and now he's gone from treating the inmates to being one himself.

That's what I call karma!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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