An ex-soldier has been jailed for contempt of court after attempting to make a bogus £40,000 personal injury claim against Caerphilly County Borough Council.
Leon Wells, 30, of McLaren Cottages, Abertysswg, originally claimed he was out jogging in Charles Street, in Rhymney, on December 26, 2006 when he fell on steps.
Wells, a former Lance Corporal in the British Army, made a claim in 2009 and the trial was due to start on October 3, 2011, until Wells dropped the case.
He was charged with five counts of contempt of court and admitted three of them.
Cardiff Civil Justice Centre was told how Wells fabricated witnesses to his ‘accident’ and that he told Caerphilly County Borough Council it had taken him three years to submit the claim because he was fighting in Afghanistan with Special Forces.
He had, in fact, been previously discharged from the military on medical grounds and was serving three years in Parc Prison for manslaughter following an unprovoked assault on a 45-year-old man outside a Tredegar pub.
Speaking after Tuesday’s case, Cllr Keith Reynolds, deputy leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council, said that Wells’ case had set alarm bells ringing from the start.
He said: “Our fraud investigation team screens every insurance claim and uses fraud indicators to look for questionable claims.
“Mr Wells’ claim raised many questions, which required further detailed investigation of the claim.”
In 2005, 26-year-old Matthew Hughes made national headlines after being photographed playing football only an hour after claiming injury from falling over a pothole.
Hughes served a two-week prison sentence and was forced to pay £33,000 to Caerphilly County Borough Council, and his two witnesses were each fined £1,500 for contempt.
Following the highly publicised case, personal injury claims made to Caerphilly County Borough Council have dropped from 423 to 157 per year – a reduction of nearly 60%.
Cllr Reynolds added“Every penny paid out to fraudsters is a penny less to spend on vital local services to the people of Caerphilly.”
Wells now faces a £61,000 legal bill.