Fall guy’s attempt to milk system foiled by shop’s security cameras

THE issue of fraudulent insurance claims has been highlighted after a man was captured on CCTV staging a fall in a Limerick shop.

Security camera footage from the Gleeson’s Spar outlet on the city’s Catherine Street captured the man’s theatrical effort in full living colour.

Wearing a rugby shirt, the prospective fraudster — who can be clearly seen and is in his 20s — is shown going to the refrigerated section of the store where he pours milk on the floor, before stepping on it and pretending to fall.

While on the floor, he makes a phone call and starts to shout, supposedly in pain, threatening to sue the shop owners for thousands of euro in damages.

Shane Gleeson, owner of the store, said that, after viewing CCTV footage of the incident, they called the man’s bluff and ordered him to leave.

Gardaí have been alerted to the incident.

“He told me he had phoned his solicitor and that it was going to cost me thousands, but we have heard nothing from his solicitor yet and if he does put in a claim we will ask the gardaí to prosecute him for fraud,” said Mr Gleeson.

“The CCTV footage clearly shows the man staging the fall. On the video you can see him at the milk and spilling it and then he lines himself up for the trip and he very carefully went down without hurting himself.

“Then he started screaming and roaring.”

Mr Gleeson said the CCTV security system had put an end to such “antics” in his store.

“This sort of thing won’t work in any shop with CCTV because of the quality of the CCTV now available,” he said.

Official Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) figures show there has been a surge in tip-offs over fraudulent insurance injury claims since the start of the recession.

Figures from the IIF earlier this summer noted an 18.5% rise in the number of tip-offs on the www.insuranceconfidential.ie watchdog website compared to last year.