Suspended jail terms for staging accidents

Bogus insurance claims and staged traffic accidents poison the atmosphere for valid claims as well as tying up gardaí and ambulance services to bolster the frauds, the sentencing judge said yesterday.

Judge David Riordan imposed suspended jail terms and community service orders on 11 defendants and said: “As the ad says, they are taking money out of your pocket. Offences such as these have a corrosive effect on genuine claims.”

The 11 defendants all pleaded guilty to counts of deception by making fraudulent claims of insurance companies and false reports in relation to traffic accidents. The charges resulted from a garda investigation, code-named Operation Nascar, co-ordinated by the Organised Crime Unit at Anglesea St Garda Station.