Whiplash wedding party fraud

A 26-year-old man and both of his parents have been jailed for a year for making exaggerated insurance claims after their wedding coaches were involved in two collisions, Police Oracle reports.

Before Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, Andrew Singh (born 2/06/83), his father Graham Mahendar Singh (born 3/12/55) and mother Niramella Singh (born 30/10/59), all of Ayres Road, Old Trafford, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and perjury.

On 10 July 2009, all three were sentenced to a year in prison. They were each sentenced to nine months for conspiracy to defraud and 12 months for perjury, to run concurrently.

Andrew's two brothers Roy Lakanveer Singh (born 18/10/89) and Tony Singh (born 9/12/87), also of Ayres Road, were also charged with conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to commit perjury, but the court has ordered that their charges lie on file.

Three coaches

The family had booked three coaches with Hollins Travel, a Bury-based company, for Andrew's wedding on 3 July 2004.

One of the coaches was involved in a collision with a Toyota Celica at the junction of King's Drive and Boys Lane in Preston.

Another coach collided with a wall at the Chipping Village Hall car park.

All the guests attended the wedding celebrations that continued throughout the day, but more than 70 made claims against the coach firm for whiplash weeks later - some of which resulted in payments by Hollins' insurers.

Civil case stopped

A civil trial at Manchester County Court in September 2006, convinced the judge that some claims were almost completely fabricated.

The trial was halted and the matter was passed to the police for investigation. A long and complex inquiry required evidence to be seized and examined from the Singh household, court records and solicitors files.

Evidence found that Andrew and Graham Singh were not even on the coach when it was involved in the collision.

Firm could have gone bust

Detective Constable Chris Harrison said: "These claims may well have caused Hollins, a small, local company, to go bust.

"This was not only an attempt to make a false insurance claim for money; this was also an insult to the civil courts system. These three family members knowingly lied during a civil hearing in front of a judge.

"False insurance claims are criminal, fraudulent offences. The Singh family is lucky that the sentence was not more severe, as new legislation does not apply to this case. Now, if proven, even the intention to defraud is a punishable offence.

"These sorts of crimes affect genuine personal injury claimants, who are thankfully the vast majority."