Surfgirl Rockchick Guilty Of £13,000 Disability Benefits Scam

Surfing Up A Claim: Hamlyn-Wright

A globe-trotting musician and competitive surfer has been convicted today of a £13,000 disability benefits scam after lying she was so disabled she couldn’t dress or wash herself.

Glastonbury performer October Hamlyn-Wright, 36, toured Australia and Scandinavia and made a music video featuring her surfing skills, which was played to the jury during her trial.

The self-styled ‘Rockchick’ and ’Surfgirl’, of Phoenix Court, Dukes Avenue, New Malden finished fifth in the 2016 British National Surf Championships and claimed the same position in the following year’s English National Surfing Championships. 

Surrey-born Hamlyn-Wright was convicted by a Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court jury of making a dishonest false representation about her mobility and care needs to the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) in claims for Disability Living Allowance on October 3, 2015 and will be sentenced on March 10.

Judge Georgina Kent told the first-time offender today: “What is important is that you attend court and co-operate with the probation service. They are the best people to help the court in dealing with your case.

“You do not have to concern yourself with an immediate custodial sentence.”

Court Date: Hamlyn-Wright

She split her time between New Malden and the UK capital of surfing Newquay, Cornwall, sometimes sleeping in her car, but now has a more permanent address in the area in Lewarne Road, Porth.

Prosecutor Mr. Andrew Price told the court Hamlyn-Wright, who performs simply as ‘October’ had posted pictures and videos of herself on Facebook, YouTube and her own personal website.

“She surfed across the world and Australia and performed at Glastonbury and the Isle of Wight festival and many other venues.

“In the biography on her ‘October Rocks’ website she says she is a professional singer, songwriter, surfer and shark enthusiast and a surfing competitor with ‘Boardmasters’.

“She says she splits her time between London and the south-west and had performed on nine stages at two festivals and at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, the ExCel, in Gothenburg, Birmingham Symphony Hall and Melbourne.”

Hamlyn-Wright has lived on benefits all her adult life and the court heard she was awarded the higher rate of the care component because she said she required 120 minutes a day for a carer to assist her getting in and out of bed and 60 minutes every day for washing.

“The benefit was awarded on the basis she was virtually unable to walk and needed full-time care,” added Mr. Price.

“There are videos and photos from 2013 onwards and she was also put under surveillance for a month and is walking, shopping, climbing stairs, performing and engaging with her audience between songs unaided and without obvious pain.”

Hamlyn-Wright wrote a lengthy letter, listing her multiple ailments when claiming benefits.

Board Life: Hamlyn-Wright

She said she had autoimmune disease lupus, which caused swelling in her lungs that made “breathing and existence agonising,” and suffered stomach pains and leg rash.

Hamlyn-Wright complained of nightly vomiting, pain in her jaw and groin and bleeding lumps on her head. “It’s a complete nightmare and prevents living a normal life.”

Her surfboarding dog Tia, who featured in the video wearing a doggie lifejacket, was trained to assist her by picking up the post and fetching her phone and handbag.

Lupus causes her inflammation to her kidneys and blood vessels and she suffers “unbearable shooting pain” in her nerves, she wrote.

Painful fibromyalgia was another illness and she suffered burns when suddenly dropping hot drinks, adding: “Sharp pains would leave me gasping for air.”

Insomnia was another issue, staying awake three days in a row before plunging into long sleeps of up to 21 hours.

She was wheelchair-bound for periods of her life, claimed Hamlyn-Wright, adding she’s had steroid injections into her joints and the base of her spine.

Chronic arthritis was another problem all her adult life as well as Crohn’s disease, an inflammation of the bowel.  

Chest inflammation is common, she wrote. “The pain is so bad my chest cannot move as it should. Lying down is excruciatingly painful and when that happens someone has to help me lie down and get up.”

Falls had resulted in fractured ankles an she has suspected gout and joints can seize up at any time. “Dressing and getting in and out of the bath is impossible on my own.”

A helpful neighbour puts her bin out, does her shopping and takes her bills to the Post Office to be paid, said Hamlyn-Wright, claiming her “legs burn” simply climbing stairs.

The investigation found her website detailing a hectic lifestyle at the same time she was suffering these ailments and the jury were played another video of her recording a song while playing her surfboard like a drum.

She gushed on ‘OctoberRocks.com’ : “I have to keep slapping myself. It’s real I’m playing Glastonbury for the sixth time this year.”

She also competed in the Red Bull surfing series and was featured in Surfgirl magazine. 

One of her tracks was played on Radio One and she performed with the BBC Big Band.

She updated her followers by breathlessly announcing: “I’m so excited. I’ll be playing and competing on the world surf tour. Complete madness.”

She plugged her album ‘Some of the Things’, telling followers: “I can’t keep up,” due to all the interview and promotional work she was doing.

She toured Australia in 2017 and posted a pic of her surfing near a legendary coastline, writing on Facebook: “So stoked to have surfed the legendary Bells Beach.”

She also wrote: “Had a lush four-hour surf at an Australian nature reserve today.”

There were other surfing and diving images of her all over social media, plus mentions of live performances in Newquay, Chepstow, Bristol, Penzance and Camden.

She was  featured artist on the ‘BBC Introducing…..’ live stage at the Royal Cornwall Show and she posted a pic of her giving Prince William a copy of her CD.