A fraudster who deliberately caused a three-car pile-up has been undone by accidental video phone footage after her siblings pretended they were in the car instead.
Following an action by Keoghs and Direct Line Group (DLG), Ms Tul-Zahara was found in contempt having knowingly made false statements. She received an immediate sentence of 11 months.
Her sister, Ms Kauser, who claimed to be a passenger and had lodged a personal injury claim despite not being present in the car, was handed a 3-month sentence, suspended for 12 months.
As well as custodial sentences, the successful defence saved DLG over £450K.
The incident occurred on a slip road as it joined a main carriageway. The owner of the front vehicle brought a claim against the driver of the rear car for vehicle damage and over £90,000 in credit hire charges. There were also claims for personal injury two of the siblings - the alleged driver, Mr Ali, and passenger, Ms Kauser, with the innocent driver of the middle vehicle initially claiming against the rear car as well.
However, the driver of the rear vehicle, DLG’s insured, maintained the front vehicle had suddenly slammed on the brakes which caused the accident. With Keoghs having previously investigated a suspicious accident involving Mr Ali, and doubts around the size of the credit hire claim, Keoghs and DLG pursued the fraud angle and took the claimants in the front vehicle to trial for an alleged slam-on.
Events took a dramatic turn when DLG’s insured stated that the driver who turned up at trial, Mr Ali, was not the driver at the scene, with the driver at the incident being female. The claimant in the middle car agreed and unexpectedly produced video evidence they had accidentally filmed at the scene when attempting to take photos, to back this up.
With this revelation, the judge suspended the trial. Following this Ali and Kauser confessed that they lied about being in the car, admitting that their previously unnamed sister, Ms Tul-Zahara, was actually the driver. They claimed that they covered for their sister.
A second hearing then found in favour of the defence, deciding that Tul-Zahara had deliberately instigated a slam-on incident, with all claims from the front vehicle defeated.
Given the circumstances of the fraud, Keoghs pursued contempt actions against the three siblings - Ali, Kauser and Tul-Zahara – with a sentencing hearing scheduled.
Ali provided a written confession during the County Court action saying he was sorry and that had only lied to support his sister. As a result, his action was stayed.
On the day of the sentencing hearing, Kauser came forward to say that she was essentially coerced by her siblings into lying about being in the car and that she was vulnerable to such demands due to learning difficulties. She offered to accept her part in the minor elements of the contempt action, but not the major slam-on, leading to a 3-month suspended sentence.
10 minutes before the contempt hearing, Tul-Zahara also offered a deal, this time in reverse to her sister, meaning she would only be liable for the major contempt elements surrounding the slam-on. This was also agreed, and she was sentenced to 11 months immediate custodial sentence.
The case was handled over eight years of litigation by Andrew Burkitt, Solicitor at Keoghs and Mahmood Akhtar, Technical Development Consultant at DLG, with both innocent drivers giving up countless hours and enduring several years of angst to achieve a resounding victory. DLG were represented by barrister Paul McGrath of Temple Garden Chambers.
Andrew Burkitt - Solicitor
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