a war veteran who became a high profile fundraiser and public speaker today appeared in court charged with lying about having ptsd and cancer former royal signalman simon buckden is accused of pretending to suffer from the illnesses in order to obtain money and other perks such as therapy he is also alleged to have falsely claimed to be a member of the sas, leeds magistrates' court was told charges: simon buckden has been accused of lying about having ptsd and cancer  buckden, 42, was chosen to carry the olympic torch in 2012 after becoming a leading campaigner for victims of ptsd he also planned to run 100 marathons in 100 weeks in order to raise money for charity help for heroes but in april 2012, he said he had put the challenge on hold after being diagnosed with rectal cancer buckden, from leeds, was arrested in august last year on suspicion of fraud he has now been charged with seven counts of fraud by false representation campaigner: buckden was picked to carry the olympic torch and planned to run 100 marathons in 100 weeks  the court heard that the charges date between october 2009 and december 2013 buckden, who served in iraq, bosnia, rwanda and northern ireland, spoke only to give his name, address and date of birth he will next appear at leeds crown court in two weeks' time the former soldier was medically discharged from the army in 2001, after 12 years of service sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article
simon buckden sas buckden leeds crown court
simon buckden, 42, became a high profile campaigner for victims of ptsd . he is accused of lying about having cancer and being a member of the sas . buckden will appear at leeds crown court next month 