Hertfordshire 'crash for cash' driver sentenced after A1(M) 'deceitful' 50mph collision
CCTV shows the moment of impact on a busy road
A brazen 'crash for cash' driver motivated by 'pure greed' has been sentenced for his part in a failed insurance scam which involved smashing into the back of an innocent motorist.
Zahid Hairan, of Dryfield Road in Edgware, was part of a gang of four found guilty of deliberately causing a collision on a busy road at 50mph.
The 31-year-old was found guilty in his absence after fleeing the country to avoid prosecution.
Police said video footage from the A1(M) in Hertfordshire showed how the scammers had "no qualms" in endangering the lives of innocent road users.
'Deceitful and dangerous'
"Cases like this demonstrate the pure greed of calculated insurance fraudsters and the measures they will take to gain financially," said Detective Constable Haywood, from the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department.
"The fact that the decoy vehicle was stopped by police on the exact same road just an hour after the first collision begs the question: were the group planning to cause another crash in the same way?
"Thankfully they did not, and now all four fraudsters have been brought to justice for this deceitful and dangerous scheme," Detective Constable Haywood added.
In the months following the crash, a number of personal injury claims were made against the Peugeot driver’s insurer.
The four scammers tried to make claims totalling nearly £50,000 but the insurer got suspicious after examining the video footage and noticing inconsistencies their accounts of what happened.
"These calculating 'crash for cash' fraudsters fuelled by their selfish greed, clearly had no care for the pain and distress they caused their victim to suffer," said Neil Jones, Intelligence and Investigations Manager at the Insurance Fraud Bureau.
"I’m pleased that this gang has been brought to justice and that innocent road users in Hertfordshire are protected from the harm they posed," he added.
In addition to Zahid Hairan, the rest of the group were also found guilty at trial for conspiracy to defraud in July 2021, and were sentenced at Inner London Crown Court in 2021.
Kudrat Azizi, 35, of Poppy Court, Headstone Drive, Harrow, 9 months imprisonment
Ghulem Haider, 34, of Tadworth Road, Brent, 12 months imprisonment
Miatullah Marufkhail, 30, of Railway Approach, Harrow, 20 months imprisonment
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