A man who was shot and seriously injured when his brother was murdered has been spared a jail sentence for benefit fraud.

Gary Treeby had part of his leg blown off with a shotgun and could have been killed if it had not jammed during the violence five years ago, Maidstone Crown Court was told.

“He was then beaten within an inch of his life with that shotgun,” said his lawyer Tom Dunn. “The gun was bent and not capable of being reloaded.”

Treeby, of Broadview Farm, Lidsing, Gillingham, admitted fraud by failing to disclose information about income when he appeared in the dock.

The 45-year-old was sentenced to three months imprisonment suspended for 18 months with no conditions after a judge said he was concerned about him doing unpaid work because he was claiming incapacity allowance.

Prosecutor Mary Jacobson said Treeby was receiving a new type of benefit called Employment Support Allowance (ESA) which he received from August 2011 until June 2013.

“It is income related,” she said. "The amount of capital affects the entitlement to benefit. All circumstances need to be declared.”

But Treeby failed to declare that he was the sole holder of the account of his mother, who died in 2007.

“Money was paid in and out,” said Miss Jacobson. “It goes up and down. It was up to £64,000 at one point. At another stage it was down to less than £10,000.”

The benefit would be affected if income was over £16,000.

“He failed to declare he had that money,” said Miss Jacobson. “He received £12,851 in ESA. He would not have received that money.”

When interviewed, Treeby said although he was the sole signatory for the account, his mother wanted his nephew Tony to have the money.

“He said Tony had the passbook and he had to go with him to withdraw money,” said Miss Jacobson. “One sees withdrawals in thousands of pounds, some made out to Mr Treeby.”

Judge Michael Carroll said Treeby had an unenviable record as a young man but he had not been before the courts so much as an adult.

“I think this was an unusual set of circumstances which quite a number of people might have had difficulty in understanding what the true position was,” he added.

Jack Treeby, 43, died after being repeatedly run over in Quarry Road, Maidstone, in December 2009.

His brother Bill, was found hanged in prison after he and two of his sons, Billy and George, were found guilty of murder.

Their mother, Charity, was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm.

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