A DISABLED man from Preston appealing against a decision to stop his incapacity benefit is threatening to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights.

The final straw for Joseph Barrow, 58, was when a medical examiner noted he was able to help his wife around the shops - Mr Barrow and his wife have been separated for nine years.

He was given no points on a score for inability to lift, partly on the basis that he helps his wife lift and load shopping in the supermarket.

The doctor adds that Mr Barrow, of Delaware Street, Preston, is able to stand at the supermarket check-out with his wife. Mr Barrow said: "I would be very interested to know where my wife is if this doctor can tell me. I haven't seen her for years."

Now Mr Barrow, who sustained a spinal injury after falling more than 19 metres while working as a road builder, is unable to claim incapacity benefit and has been declared fit for work.

He has written to the appeals tribunal board complaining about the treatment he received.

In his letter, he states: "I hate having to beg to get decent treatment from an unjust system that has taken so much and given so little in return.

"I will be contacting the European Human Right Commission in order to obtain some justice, emphasising that ... this system treats its people as something less than human."

Doctors carrying out the medical examinations to decide whether applicants are fit for work are encouraged to make judgements on the basis of a patient's demeanour during the assessment.

Mr Barrows claims this is a nonsense as patients will hide their discomfort in a bid to co-operate with the doctor.

"Because I have pride, I don't look like I am in pain, that's why I don't struggle to get out of the chair (one of the factors noted)," he said.

He added that in public he battled to walk without a limp.

A spokesman from the Benefits Agency Press Office said he could not discuss an individual case but added: "An assessment is carried out from as soon as they see the doctor - whether they see him in the medical room or outside. If he saw the patient walking across the carpark, that would count too."

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