A commonwealth public servant was busted faking illness to avoid work after telling his bosses he was suffering from lung cancer.
Ben Phillip Lyons, 28, from Queanbeyan near Canberra, repeatedly wrote fake medical certificates to avoid work in 2006.
But he went too far when he produced a letter, reportedly from the head of the oncology unit at Canberra Hospital, stating he needed surgery for lung cancer.
The ACT Magistrate's Court has heard his concerned director from the then Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR), Cath Winter, visited the hospital in September 2006 to see how Lyons was recovering.
"However, on making inquiries with hospital staff there was no record of him as a patient," a statement of facts tendered to the court states.
"Concerned, she then made inquiries with Calvary Hospital, National Capital Private Hospital and John James Hospital, none of which had any record of (Lyons)."
Lyons, who worked in the OH&S branch of DEWR, yesterday pleaded guilty to three counts of obtaining financial advantage to which he wasn't entitled.
He falsely claimed three weeks of sick leave in 2006 worth a total of $3,220.46.
The problem was he had written all of the medical certificates himself.
In June, he presented a doctor's certificate to his manager purportedly from a doctor from the Lanyon Medical Centre.
But the court was told the doctor "had never been employed as a medical practitioner at the Lanyon Medical Centre and (Lyons) had never attended the centre as a patient".
In August, Lyons took another week's leave after presenting another false medical certificate, this time from a different "doctor" at the Lanyon Medical Centre.
Then, in July, he told his manager and director that he was "suffering from lung cancer".
In September, he said he was scheduled for surgery and produced the letter purportedly from the head of Canberra Hospital's oncology unit.
Magistrate Maria Doogan ordered Lyons to repay his sick leave wages and to pay a $1,000 fine.
He was also placed on a two-year good behaviour bond.
Lyons was sacked by the department over the episode.
