A FATHER-OF-FOUR who has never worked and claims incapacity benefit for his alcohol addiction last night hit back at the judge who branded him a “sponger”.

Stanley Clifton launched a four-letter tirade at Judge John Walford, who said the Darlington man should be stripped of the benefit because he claims not to have drank for a year.

The judge also railed against rules that meant he could not do unpaid work in the community because he is on incapacity benefit and cannot be insured.

Clifton, of Elland Court, Darlington, who says he has a full-time job looking after his children, said: “I’d like to see that f******g radged b*****d look after the kids all day long.

“How does he know what I do during the day? I bet he couldn’t do it.”

The 31-year-old was ordered to do 100 hours community service in March 2009 for a common assault he committed in February the previous year.

He had completed 49 hours before officials realised his ineligibility.

Nonetheless, he was hauled back before Teesside Crown Court on Tuesday to be sentenced for twice breaching the order.

Judge Walford, who was dissuaded from jailing him and instead told him he would be supervised by the Probation Service for three months, said: “He looks perfectly able bodied to me [to work].

“This defendant is the embodiment of the welfare dependency culture.”

Hitting back, Clifton, who lives with his partner, Leanne Nelson, the mother of his children, said: “Course I’m looking for work, but I’m not qualified for anything. I have had a job, a full-time job with the kids.

“The judge knows nothing about me or my life.

“I’ve looked into doing woodwork or being a deckhand on a boat, but it was too hard to get.

“Obviously, we depend on the money we get, but it’s all for the kids.

“I can’t remember the last pair of trainers.”

Despite telling court officials he had not had an alcoholic drink for a year, Mr Clifton admitted he still had the “odd tipple” now and again and continued to battle alcohol addiction.

He said: “I was drinking six or seven litres of extra strength cider a day. I stopped when I started to feel bad and the doctor said I needed to or I would die.

“I still have the odd drink when I get stressed out.

“The judge didn’t inquire if I had had any help with my addiction.

“What if I went out and hurt someone when I was drunk? I bet he’d have something to say about it then.”

Clifton, who began drinking aged 12, said he began claiming benefits five years later and now he and his partner receive about £200 a fortnight, of which £20 to £30 was incapacity benefit.

He said: “If we lost the incapacity benefit, looking after four kids would be a struggle.

“We recently had to buy the kids new uniforms because they moved schools.

“If they take it away I have got no qualifications, but I’ll do what I’ve got to do. If it happens, it happens.”

A neighbour of Clifton’s, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s ridiculous he was getting the benefit in the first place, he shouldn’t be allowed a penny.

“He is a sponger. I broke my back a few years ago and I had to claim incapacity benefit then, but there’s nothing wrong with him as far as I can see.

“As for him being a full-time dad, his partner takes the kids to school – he doesn’t do anything.”