Gold-winning para-athlete caught on video with 'normal' arm after making £1.7m claim for falling off army horse is 'fundamentally dishonest', says judge as he throws out her case | Daily Mail Online
Debbie O'Connell, 37, was part of the King's Troop, when she fell from a bucking parade horse in 2015, breaking her collarbone and claiming her left arm was rendered virtually useless. She claimed she had little function in her left arm and needed major assistance with everyday tasks, with London's High Court hearing evidence that her granny even helped her clean her teeth by putting the toothpaste on the brush. But she was accused of exaggerating her symptoms after secret video footage showed her using her injured arm while mucking out and leading horses, driving a manual transmission horse box and chopping carrots to feed to the animals.Now High Court Judge Christopher Kennedy KC has ruled that despite claiming her left arm effectively doesn't work and having competed as a T46 category para athlete, she in fact by 2022 had 'normal or near normal' function in her arm. The T46 class in para athletics is for competitors with limb impairments comparable with an 'athlete with a unilateral above elbow amputation'. 'It was put to the claimant that she presented on the surveillance as not disabled at all. She denied that,' said the judge. But he went on to find that the 2022 surveillance video of her working with the horses shows 'someone with normal or near normal function in their left upper limb and shoulder.EXCLUSIVE Jam wars! How David Beckham and Victoria aimed subtle dig at both Harry and Meghan AND son Brooklyn in video of jam-making · America's most famous conjoined twins always wanted a baby, now they share one with a divorcee army vet hubby: TOM LEONARD revealsShe was accused of exaggerating her symptoms after secret video footage showed her using her injured arm while mucking out and leading horses