THE finances of a sixties pop star accused of being a benefits cheat were a mess, his defence barrister told a jury at Worcester Crown Court yesterday.

PJ Proby, who is appearing in court under his real name of James Marcus Smith, was incapable of regulating his own affairs without support from others, said David Gottlieb.

He said Proby, who lives in Twyford, Evesham, had a history of alcoholism and had taken medication for decades for chronic depression.

Although now aged 73, Texan-born Proby still performed, often at obscure venues. But he was not making millions of pounds, said Mr Gottlieb.

“The sad truth is he is making a loss nearly every time he goes on stage,” he said.

“His finances are a mess. He can’t explain every detail of his accounts and is sometimes confused and contradicts himself.”

Mr Gottlieb said Proby worked for love and as therapy for depression – not money. He had never kept the fact that he still worked from the Department of Work and Pensions.

Much of his earnings from guest spots on tours by such groups as the Searchers and the Trogs went on expenses.

And a £51,000 inheritance in 2006 from an uncle in America was not declared because Proby had wrongly thought that tax he paid in the USA on the sum was sufficient.

Proby denies nine counts of benefit fraud, amounting to £47,000 in income support, pension credit, housing and council tax benefit.

Mr Gottlieb said the DWP assumed Smith was dishonest because he still worked.

But he had tried to explain to the DWP at every stage how singing did not bring vast profits but gave meaning to his life and acted as therapy.

Proby had no criminal record and achieved fame in the 1960s when he split his tight trousers on stage, said Mr Gottlieb. He owned three houses in Beverly Hills and one in Chelsea, a number of Rolls-Royces and a luxury yacht.

But Mr Gottlieb said Proby lost everything and went through failed marriages and multiple bankruptcies.

The jury was told that 1992 proved a watershed year when Proby began his recovery from alcoholism.

In 2000, he moved to the Evesham area because the countryside reminded him of Texas. Mr Gottlieb said Proby claimed benefits because he genuinely needed financial help – and was still claiming them to this day.

The trial continues.