A bodybuilder who claimed a botched NHS surgery left him too weak to even use the kettle is jailed after being caught out by videos showing him lifting weights and playing rugby.
Sean Murphy, 39, sued Wye Valley NHS Trust for £580,000 in compensation after claiming that an operation on his bicep left him unable to work or dress himself.
His claims started to unravel after photos and videos on social media emerged of the bodybuilder playing rugby and lifting weights, with one video showing him grunting while shifting a three-stone kettle bell.
The images caused the damages claim to be thrown out of court last year and he has now been jailed for eight months for contempt of court at the High Court in London.
Mr Murphy also faces a court bill of around £200,000, including the £40,000 in interim damages he had received before his lies came to light, as well as the NHS’s costs of the original claim and the contempt case, plus interest.
At the High Court,Justice Mould said: ‘A more egregious act of selfish and self-serving deceit is hard to contemplate.’

Sean Murphy (centre) was seen playing rugby for Ross-on-Wye’s second team despite claiming his operation had left him unable to play the game

Bodybuilder Sean Murphy (pictured) was caught lifting weights in the gym after suing the NHS for £580,000

A judge said the bodybuilder, shown posing for a picture, had ‘exaggerated’ his injuries
The court heard builder Mr Murphy, from Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, underwent his surgery after tearing a biceps tendon during a rugby match in March 2017. During the repair operation, damage was caused to his elbow, resulting in nerve injury which he claimed impacted on almost every aspect of his day to day life.
Suing for £580,000 compensation, he claimed his grip strength was so reduced that he was now dependent on others to dress him, said he could no longer work as a builder and had to give up rugby and going to the gym.
Previously he had played once a week and trained twice, but after the surgery ‘all of that is finished,’ it was claimed in papers put forward as part of his claim.
Mr Murphy had claimed he couldn’t hold a saucepan or carry clothes, and that ‘the most he could lift was an empty kettle’.
The NHS admitted that Mr Murphy was entitled to some damages, but said the £580,000 claim was vastly inflated by ‘gross exaggeration’ of his ongoing symptoms.
Lawyers pointed to evidence that suggested Mr Murphy had been back playing rugby within months of his surgery and was again training in the gym.
Photos and videos posted online showed him lifting ‘very heavy weights’ – including bench-pressing 150 kilos – in the gym and his garden, engaging in boxing training, and back on the rugby pitch for Ross-on-Wye’s second team.
Local media reports even mentioned him in the lineup, with one suggesting that he and the rest of the team’s front row ‘bullied their opposition numbers for the entire game.’

Photos showed Sean Murphy (pictured) lifting weights despite claiming the NHS operation had left him unable to lift anything heavier than an empty kettle

In this grab from a Facebook video, Sean Murphy, 38, (pictured) was shown lifting a 20kg kettle bell despite claiming his bicep operation left him unable to lift heavy weights
Following a trial at the High Court last October, Judge James Healy-Pratt dismissed Mr Murphy’s claim, which he branded ‘fundamentally dishonest’ after viewing the online evidence.
‘The evidence, including video footage, social media posts and other web-related evidence, is compelling in its weight and cogency,’ he said in his ruling.
Mr Murphy’s claims he couldn’t play rugby, work as a builder or work out, were described by the judge as ‘wholly false’.
‘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,’ the judge said.
Giving judgment, Mr Justice Mould said that Mr Murphy had made a ‘sustained and deliberate series of false statements and lies’ in order to exaggerate the effects of his injury to a ‘massive degree’.
Two videos could be dated after the injury, one showing him lifting a heavy weight bar in a garden, with another showing him lifting and swinging a 20lbs kettlebell in a kitchen.
The judge said the videos proved ‘beyond reasonable belief’ that he was experiencing ‘no significant weakness’ in his arm.
‘I am satisfied that he deliberately lied to each expert by volunteering the false impression that he had been unable to play rugby,’ the judge added.
The judge said that ‘the shortest period of imprisonment I am able to impose is eight months’.