A man who made a false insurance claim for a road accident that allegedly left him seriously disabled has been jailed for nine months after he posted pictures on Facebook of himself and his wife caravanning.
In what is said to be the first custodial sentence of its kind, Graham Loveday and his wife Susan, of Glyncorrwg, Port Talbot, West Glamorgan, were found out after they posted photos of their Lake Garda trip on Facebook.
Mr Loveday, 54, was given the immediate term- he will be released unconditionally after four and a half months – after insurers Acromas, who worked with law firm Keoghs, proved he made false statements in support of a substantial damages claim made after he was involved in an April 2006 accident.
His wife, 52, who made a partial admission of liability, was given a six months suspended sentence conditional on her not committing any further contempt for 18 months.
Mr Loveday, a former lorry driver, sued elderly motorist Edward Neild for a six-figure sum for psychiatric and back injuries, plus a lost earnings claim of over £25,000 a year.
He claimed he was wheelchair dependent when going any distance from home, unable to drive, phobic about travel and could not follow his old hobbies of vehicle maintenance and caravanning.
After surveillance evidence was obtained, the claim was settled in January last year for £1,850 plus costs of £1,574 which were never paid out but offset against the defence costs.
Marcus Grant, counsel for Acromas and Mr Neild, said at London’s High Court, that there was no doubt that Mr Loveday suffered low back pain and often used a stick but he was not a housebound invalid.
As he sentenced the couple today, Sir May said their offence was a “public wrong, not just a private matter between you and an insurance company”.
In 2009, he claimed he developed a “crippling” fear of travelling and the prospect of going into a car filled him with such dread it made him violently ill. But, just a few weeks earlier, between 23 May and 3 July, he and his wife had holidayed in Lake Garda, with Mr Loveday driving a Land Rover towing a twin-axle caravan.
A few days later after his return, he told a solicitor that he had travelled by plane from Swansea Airport, was taken through the airport in a wheelchair and given priority boarding.
Mr Grant said that when Acromas was given permission to pursue the case, it did not know Mr Loveday had driven to Italy with his wife, where they were looking relaxed and happy.
The information came from the Department for Work and Pensions, who were investigating a series of holiday photos the Loveday’s put on Facebook.
Mr Loveday told the court that they planned to fly but had to change their plans when friends had a bereavement, adding that he still hated driving and being an ex-lorry driver he could not explain it.
“It was too much. We went because I had to go. If I didn’t go, I’d rot in the house.”
He said he could remember telling the solicitor they had travelled by plane and denied that he lied to her.
Sir May said the most outstanding falsehood was the “pack of lies” about the Italy trip.
Mr Loveday’s case was not helped by the “show” he put on staggering from his seat to give evidence and pretending not to remember things when his memory was much better than he would have the court believe, Sir May continued.
Sir May concluded that this was a “serious case of contempt of its kind”.
Medico-Legal News Source: PostOnline
