A husband and wife who made a fraudulent insurance claim have been given suspended sentences at Wexford Circuit Criminal Court.
John and Kathleen Connors, Na Coillte, Carrigbáin, Bunclody, Co Wexford, admitted falsely claiming that John had been driving when Kathleen sustained serious injuries in a road crash at Newtownbarry, Bunclody, seven years ago.
John Connors, in his late 30s, pleaded guilty to four counts of insurance fraud on dates from October 2000 to June 2005 claiming he had been the driver.
Kathleen Connors pleaded to two counts of falsely pretending to be a passenger in a vehicle driven by John Connors and that she received injury by his negligent use of the vehicle.
Sgt Ray Heffernan told the court the incident involved a van driven by Mrs Connors colliding with a wall at Irish St, Bunclody, at around 1.30am on August 7th, 2000. She was brought to her home by people at the scene and the van was removed before gardaí were notified.
Afterwards John Connors reported the incident to gardaí, saying he was driving and Kathleen was a passenger. He reported the same information to Hibernian Insurance.
Mrs Connors instructed a solicitor and a claim was made against Hibernian for her injuries, which included a broken arm and hip. She spent a month in hospital.
Hibernian investigated the incident and referred the findings to the Garda. The couple were interviewed and after caution admitted attempting to defraud the company. Although nothing was paid out, €280,000 including legal fees could have resulted had the claim been successful.
Sgt Heffernan said the couple were up front once approached by gardaí. "I think she was relieved to tell the matter," he said.
An extract from Mrs Connors's statement, read out in court, said: "I hadn't the guts to tell the truth after a while; I would never do anything like that again." Counsel for John Connors, said his motivation had been "simply to replace the car that he lost".
Judge Alice Doyle said similar offences were being highlighted more often . She imposed two-year jail terms on each of four counts against John Connors, the sentences suspended on condition he entered into a bond of €100 to keep the peace, be of good behaviour for four years and refrain from alcohol.
She sentenced Kathleen Connors to one year in prison but said that society would not be served by the mother of five spending a year in jail. She suspended it for 18 months, ordering that she enter into a bond of €100 to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.