A council officer caught sprinting at Croydon athletics track while signed off with a back injury has been forced to pay back thousands of pounds in scammed sick pay.

Matthew Thomas was branded a common criminal as he was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for two years, at Inner London Crown Court this morning.

The 34-year-old, who lives in Purley Bury Avenue, Purley, competed in national athletics contests and took money to coach youths in the art of sprinting, despite telling employer Newham Council he was unable to work after falling off a ladder.

He took £12,000 in sick pay over seven months before quitting his job as a payroll officer in June 2008.

But during his trial the jury was shown video footage of him sprinting at Croydon athletics track in April 2008, Crystal Palace in May 2008 and coaching young athletes in a scheme set up by the Metropolitan Police.

Thomas had told his employers he found it difficult to perform everyday tasks due to his back injury, but the court heard he took part in major athletics competitions in Birmingham and Surrey in early 2008.

Councillor Ian Corbett, Newham Council’s executive member for environment said: "Matthew Thomas systematically abused his in depth knowledge of the system to line his own pockets.

"We employed him in good faith and he abused that trust.

"Newham Council has a zero-tolerance approach to fraudulent use of taxpayers' money.

"It cannot - and will not - be tolerated.

"We have rigorous systems in place to detect this sort of practice.

"The council constantly reviews its procedures in line with its best practice approach and we will do everything we can to ensure this episode goes unrepeated."

A former St Lucia athlete, Thomas competed in the 100m at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne a year before his accident.

The court heard he had competed in the national contests while signed off sick to receive free physiotherapy sessions after the races, despite telling bosses his injury meant he could not sit down for long periods.

Thomas was found guilty of seven charges of dishonestly making false representation, and was ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and pay £8,000 in costs.

He was found not guilty of one charge of dishonestly failing to disclose information, and three other charges of dishonestly making false representation.