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A grandad of 62 was assaulted by a muscle-bound security guard after he took his disabled wife for a benefits assessment.

Keith Langham was left with blood pouring from a head wound after helping wife Karen, 61, with the interview for her Personal Independence Payments.

She was told that people like her ‘needed to learn to help themselves’ amid ugly scenes at her first appointment.

It was carried out on behalf of Independent Assessment Services, formally known as ATOS, in Carlisle, Cumbria.

At the second interview, Keith, who is 5ft 5in tall and 10-and-a-half stone, had to be taken to hospital after he was grabbed by powerfully-built six footer Chris Bryan, then aged 30.

(Image: Internet Unknown/Facebook) (Image: Daily Mirror)

He pushed him into a door then held Keith in a headlock so that he struggled to breath. The incident was recorded on Keith’s phone before police were called to the centre in Newcastle Business Park.

Grandfather-of-two Keith had seven stitches in a head wound. He and his wife then faced the ordeal of giving evidence against Bryan, a ‘Boxercise’ personal trainer who was found guilty of assault by beating in May this year.

Semi-retired Keith, a services manager said: “He was a very large guy, I would say he was about 6ft 4in tall and 16st, heavily built, shaven headed. He said he was security and we had to leave the building. But he was not wearing any ID.

“I asked who he worked for and he told me he did not have to tell me and we had to leave. We were heading towards the reception when one of the nurses said ‘get them out through the fire doors’.”

He added: “I felt his breath on the back of my neck, he put one hand between my shoulder blades, the other in the small of my back and launched into me, pushing me into the door frame.

“He then had me in a choke hold and you could hear me on audio saying ‘I am calm can you let me go’. It was unnecessary, cowardly, and disproportionate.”

Karen, who suffered a series of strokes in 2002 and walks with a stick, “went into meltdown”. “I was screaming at him to let him go,” she said. “He had him in a chokehold for about two minutes.”

The couple, of Haltwhistle, Northumberland, now realise the second appointment had been ‘flagged’ by the assessors due to problems with their staff at the first interview, and the security guard was brought in as a result.

(Image: Andy Commins/Daily Mirror)

“The whole process is insensitive to put it mildly, these checks are incredibly cruel.” added Karen. “But this was disgraceful.”

Northumbria Police were called to the incident on Aug 18, 2017. Keith was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, where he received seven stitches in the head wound.

Bryan, of Birtley, Co Durham, was found guilty of assault at North Tyneside Magistrates court after a trial. He was given a 12-month community order, with 150 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £620 in court costs, a £85 victim surcharge, and £150 compensation to Keith.

He has appealed against conviction, and that is due to be heard before Newcastle crown court on Sept 28. He declined to comment. “My concern is the crown court case,” he said.

Independent Assessment Services stressed their delivery partner managing the site had immediately removed him from duty and a ‘thorough investigation was conducted’.

“Full co-operation was provided to the police in their own investigation,” said a spokesman. “The individual then left the contracted security company with whom he was employed shortly after the incident and before any further disciplinary action could be taken.”

The DWP ‘work closely with providers to ensure PIP assessments work well for everyone’. “We’re committed to continually improving the process, and we’re piloting the video recording of PIP assessments with a view to rolling this out widely,” added a spokesperson.

The DWP paid Independent Assessment Services and Capita nearly £255m last year for PIP assessments.

Chris Bryan, 33, successfully appealed his conviction on May 23, 2019.