Two men have denied being part of a car crash scam to con thousands of pounds from insurance companies, a court heard.
Mark Fletcher, from Prestwich, and Craig Phillips, from Heap Bridge, with Stephen Eatherall, Richard Beswick, Michael Entwistle and John Cody, were said to have made up an accident between Eatherall’s Audi and Cody’s Range Rover in Bury Old Road, Ainsworth.
Fletcher, aged 33, of Oldfield Road, Prestwich, and Phillips, aged 44, of The Nook, Heap Bridge, deny conspiracy to commit fraud.
Eatherall told Manchester Crown Court that the plot had been hatched when he broke down on the M62. The gearbox had packed up and motor industry worker Fletcher, said it would cost £2,500 to fix. Eatherall said he could not afford it and, he told the court, Fletcher said he knew someone who could “sort it out”.
Fletcher arranged for his dad’s recovery firm to collect the £8,000 car and it was towed to Prestwich.
The court heard that Fletcher later gave Eatherall a piece of paper with the details of a fictitious crash between his Range Rover and an Audi belonging to Cody. Eatherall then contacted his insurance company, Zurich. The company was suspicious, however, and launched an investigation. Eatherall eventually confessed that the accident had never happened.
Beswick, who owns Triumph Restorations in Bolton, claimed he was driving the Audi and Entwistle, who works for the company, said he was a passenger. Both men entered personal injury claims, the court heard.
Eatherall, aged 30, of Brunswick Street, Burnley; Beswick, aged 51, of Hall Coppice, Egerton, Bolton; Entwistle, aged 45, of Somerton Road, Bolton, and Cody, aged 37, of Lynton Lea, Radcliffe, have all pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit fraud.
The hearing continues.
source: burytimes.co.uk
