A man who tried to sue a council for £50,000 after blaming a moped accident on a pothole has been given six months in jail.
Law firm Weightmans and Halton Borough Council successfully established contempt of court against Daniel Condron, who had dishonestly claimed his accident was caused when his vehicle hit a pothole in the road.
However evidence from the police confirmed the accident occurred 30 metres from where Condron alleged it took place.
After witness statements bought this to light in a case in January 2014, Condron withdrew his claim.
Halton BC later obtained permission to bring proceedings against Condron, who was last week convicted of contempt of court for signing documents with a statement of truth when he knew the facts were false.
Handing down his ruling, High Court judge recorder Sephton QC said dishonest claims had a ‘pernicious effect on the insurance industry, local authorities and society as a whole’.
Operational director for finance at Halton BC, Ed Dawson, said: ‘The council has a zero tolerance approach to fraud. As this case shows, where fraud is suspected the council will take all appropriate steps to investigate and pursue the matter in order to protect public money and deter fraudulent claims.’
Peter Wake, head of local government litigation at Weightmans and the solicitor for Halton BC in this case, said: ‘This is another victory for our local authority clients in the ongoing battle against fraudulent claims.
‘Where fraud is suspected, we take all necessary steps to investigate and pursue the matter. This is the only way to deter fraudsters and protect the public purse.’
Condron was unable to be reached for comment.
