A driver who reported his car stolen and hid it in his dead sister-in-law's garage dodged jail. Graham Harris pocketed more than £5,000 from his insurers but was caught after police spotted the BMW being taken away for repairs.
Delivery driver Harris, 49, admitted charges of fraud and wasting police time. Hamilton Sheriff Court heard that he'd been having trouble with the car's engine and, after getting the insurance payout, planned to have it repaired.
Claire Rowan, prosecuting, said Harris, of Wishaw, Lanarkshire, told police in March last year that the vehicle had been stolen. The following month he received £5,307 from AA Insurance.
Ms Rowan stated: "He stored the car in Wishaw at the home of his sister-in-law who had recently passed away.
"In May last year the owner of a vehicle recovery company got a phone call from the accused, asking if he could uplift his BMW as the engine was broken.
"The witness remembers the accused explaining that he had spent a fortune on getting the engine re-done and the vehicle still wasn't working."
The BMW was taken from the garage at the sister-in-law's house and put on the back of a recovery truck, but police officers on routine patrol noticed it didn't have number plates.
They carried out checks that revealed it had been reported stolen. The recovery truck driver told officers he had been asked to take the car away and repair the engine.
The fiscal added: "Police liaised with an AA fraud investigator and were advised about the theft claim that had been made.
"Harris was arrested and admitted he'd made a false report of theft and an insurance claim."
First offender Harris was ordered to pay £1,500 compensation to the insurance firm after Sheriff Ross Macfarlane heard that nearly £4,000 has already been recovered.
He will be confined to his home between 9.30pm and 7.30am each day under a four-month electronic tagging order.
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