Starving, unable to stand and looking like he is about to waste away - this is a man deemed fit to find work and denied vital benefits by a cruel system.

These shocking images show 64-year-old Liverpool man Stephen Smith in hospital over Christmas when his severe health problems left him in such a poor state his weight dropped to just six stone and left him fearing for his life.

Despite his awful condition and history of serious health problems, Stephen was forced to get a pass out from hospital to go and fight a decision by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) which repeatedly denied him crucial benefits and insisted he was fit and capable of finding work.

(Image: Liverpoool Echo)

He won that appeal after a tribunal judge saw what should have been glaringly obvious to the DWP - that Mr Smith can barely walk down the street let alone hold down a job.

Stephen's story is one of many that expose the cruel and pernicious welfare system in action at present in this country - but even the hardest heart will surely be rocked by these images.

And what is even more shocking is that repeated calls to grant Stephen Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) were denied - despite written evidence from doctors stating that he couldn't walk for 20 metres without collapsing with pain and exhaustion.

Stephen, from Kensington, has suffered with a number of serious conditions for several years.

His most debilitating illness is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, an incurable respiratory problem that causes severe breathing issues and gets worse over time.

But he also suffers with excruciating Osteoarthritis, has an enlarged prostate and uses a colostomy bag to go to the toilet.

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Despite all of this, the 64-year-old failed a DWP work capability assesment in 2017 - which meant his ESA payments were stopped and he was told to sign on for a £67 a week Jobseeker's Allowance, visit the job centre once a week and prove he was looking for work.

Throughout this period, Stephen was living alone and didn't know where to turn as his health deteriorated.

He said: "I could only make it to the kitchen to make food once a day.

(Image: Liverpoool Echo)

"I had no muscles in the back of my leg which meant I couldn't stand up at all - and had to lean or sit down all the time - but they were telling me I was fit for work."

Stephen believes he could have died if it wasn't for two men, Tony Nelson and Terry Craven.

Tony runs the CASA community centre in Hope Street which offers support to people who don't know where to turn.

Tony introduced Stephen to Terry, a former city council welfare officer who works at the CASA advising people on benefit claims.

What is Universal Credit? Universal Credit is a new benefits system that will eventually replace six seperate benefits. They are: income support

income-based jobseeker's allowance

income-related employment and support allowance

housing benefit

child tax credit

working tax credit Claimants will get one single payment to cover any and all of these benefits they are entitled to. Out of that single payment they will then have to cover their own costs directly, e.g. rent, rather than it being a deducted payment. The brainchild of the Conservative Government, it is theoretically meant to make claiming benefits easier. But the policy has been bereft with problems since it started being rolled out across the country and has been blamed for pushing many vulnerable people into hardship and poverty.

After Stephen was kicked off ESA, Terry took up his case and battled with the DWP to get him the benefits he knew he deserved.

This included sending the opinions of two separate doctors who both confirmed the "significant difficulty" and pain experienced by Mr Smith when completing simple movements and daily activities.

One doctor's note stated: "It is my opinion that Mr Smith could not walk 20 metres without pain or exhaustion."

(Image: Liverpoool Echo)

But despite this, in January last year, Mr Smith's appeal was rejected by the DWP who told him that he hadn't scored the required number of points to deem him as having 'limited capability for work'.

But Stephen and Terry continued to battle over the next year and eventually were granted the chance to fight the decision in a tribunal earlier this month - 12 months on from that DWP rejection.

But that date almost came too late for Stephen who had been struggling to look after himself and suffering from deteriorating health in the intervening period.

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Terry said: "Around December time me and my wife went to check in on him and my wife said 'if we don't do something now, he's not long for this world'."

Stephen was now suffering from pneumonia and was taken to hospital which was when the shocking images of his dramatic weight loss and poor condition were taken.

And it was during this stay in hospital that Stephen was forced to get a pass to allow him to leave the Royal and head to the tribunal to fight his case.

He won it - with the judge stating that his mobility and health problems meant he satisfied the requirement for ESA.

The ruling means Stephen will be put back on to ESA but Terry believes he is owed around £4,000 in backpay.

He said Stephen's case, while alarming, is not uncommon at present.

He said: "I have got lots of cases like Steve's - I have a client at the moment who is actually on dialysis and has been thrown off benefits

Telling the stories that matter to you - more original journalism by the Liverpool ECHO This is the grim reality of desperately trying to survive the summer in poverty We spent a day at a Liverpool community centre on the front line of our city's fight against poverty to see the vital work they are doing every day. This piece sought to understand what it's like for families struggling to get through the summer. Read it here. We spoke to people on Lodge Lane for a picture of how life is changing in Liverpool We spent an afternoon walking down the busy street, chatting to residents and business owners to try and get an idea of how things have changed, the successes of this diverse community and the struggles it still faces. Read it here. Cocaine city From the social drug takers to the door staff trying to keep it out of their clubs and the paramedics picking up the pieces when things go wrong - we asked how cocaine affects Liverpool's night life. We also tried to understand where the drugs being sold in clubs and on the city's streets come from - and why the demand is still so strong. Read it here. St Helens is the nation's suicide capital and no one knows why We spoke to the experts faced with tackling the crisis and the people who have lost someone to suicide about why so many people are taking their own lives in the town. Read our exclusive investigation here.

And Stephen himself knows how different things could have been without Terry, Tony and the CASA.

He said: "Without them and this place I probably wouldn't be here today - I had nowhere to turn- they have saved my life."

To find out more about the CASA and the work being done to support people in Liverpool click here.

What the Department of Work and Pensions says:

In an initial statement a spokesperson for the DWP claimed Mr Smith has 'continued to receive all of the benefits he was entitled to, as well as offers of personal support to improve his skills and health issues'.

She added: "He has now been reassessed, reflecting his changing condition and will be receiving full ESA support.

“We’re committed to ensuring that people with health conditions get the support they’re entitled to.

"Decisions for ESA are made following consideration of all the information provided by the claimant, including supporting evidence from their GP or medical specialist. Any claimant can appeal a decision for free to an independent tribunal.”

UPDATE: The day after the ECHO published Stephen Smith's story, the DWP sent us the following statement, confirming he would receive all back payments for ESA.

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They said: "We are sorry for the experience Mr Smith has had and we are committed to ensuring that people with health conditions get the support they're entitled to.

"Following the independent tribunal’s ruling, he is now receiving full ESA support. While Mr Smith continued to receive benefits and support during his appeal, we can confirm he will shortly receive all back-payments for ESA due."