The Sun accuses man of fiddling benefits

A benefits fiddler is pocketing disability cash claiming he can barely walk - while teaching judo in strenuous martial arts workouts.

Refugee Gaby Itonga gets more than £1,000 a month in handouts - despite being a fit judo black belt.

His training routine includes pinning opponents to the mat and energetic running, leaping and forward rolls. HIV-positive Itonga, 46, trains at Tottenham Community Sports Centre, North London. He has even posted pictures of himself in judo gear on Facebook.

His handouts consist of £400-a-month Disability Living Allowance, income support, housing benefit and free rail travel. He's so flush with taxpayers' cash he turns up for classes in a gleaming silver Mercedes.

Department for Work and Pension documents leaked to The Sun show he was sent a letter in April 2008 in which officials accepted he was "virtually unable to walk" and needed "attention with bodily functions through the day".

The handout was approved based on "a report from the hospital you told us about".

The dad of two has not worked since claiming asylum from Congo's civil war more than a decade ago. Both his sons have been in jail.

A source close to his family said: "He's tough, toned and muscular. People making these decisions must never have seen him. He's never short of cash, drives a Mercedes, has business interests in the Congo and regularly goes back to party with women. He's a violent drunk who gave his wife a terrible time."

Itonga said he claimed benefits for being HIV-positive.