A magician with a talent for fire-eating, sword-swallowing and bathing in broken glass is facing bankruptcy after being exposed as a benefits cheat.

To his audiences Nigel Hardman was Prince Razaq, who appeared on stage in flowing robes, a turban and curly-toed sandals.

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©Peter Lovas
Hardman was claiming incapacity benefit, but astounded audiences with his stunts


The high point of his career was when he won a talent show on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast by extricating himself from a straitjacket while standing on a bed of nails.

But Hardman, 40, attracted the attention of fraud investigators, who delved into his finances and discovered that he had been claiming incapacity benefit because he was supposedly too ill to work.

Yesterday, the former civil servant from Warton, near Kirkham, Lancs, admitted 11 charges of cheating the benefits system when he appeared before magistrates in Blackpool. The bench heard that between 2002 and 2006 he falsely claimed £10,000 in incapacity benefit and £8,000 in council tax and housing benefits.

The court was told that Hardman worked variously as a double-glazing salesman, postal clerk, accident insurance adviser and a meter reader.

As a sideline he also bought a 31ft stretch limousine so he could drive stag and hen party guests around Blackpool.

Digby Johnson, defending, said his client had been forced to take sick leave from the job as an accident insurance adviser after having a crash and had later developed his magic act.

However, his career began to founder and he got into debt. He now owes almost £100,000 and is facing bankruptcy. Hardman, who is now unemployed, is still paying back the £10,000 he claimed in incapacity benefit.

Magistrates ordered him to be tagged for six months.