A BRADFORD businessman committed a vehicle insurance fraud within weeks of being released from a prison sentence, a judge heard.

Anthony Gribbin was investigated after he fraudulently tried to claim £8,500 for a forklift truck and trailer which had been reported stolen to police in August, 2013.

Leeds Crown Court heard today Gribbin, 36, of Leaventhorpe Hall, Thornton Road, Thornton, Bradford was only released on June 17, 2013 from a three year jail term imposed in April 2012 for handling stolen farm equipment and fraudulently selling two hired machines.

Robert Stevenson, prosecuting, said on February 7, 2012 through a broker, Leaventhorpe Development Ltd took out a policy of insurance covering plant equipment.

That was automatically renewed the following year and on February 27, 2013 the broker was contacted to add two items to the policy, a fork lift truck and a trailer.

Mr Stevenson said it was the prosecution’s case it was Gribbin who reported they had been stolen to the police that August and lodged a claim to the insurance company RSA a few days later for £6,500 for the forklift truck and £2,000 on the trailer.

But suspicions were aroused when some of the details of the vehicles did not match earlier information given to the insurers and a claims investigator began to make checks.

Gribbin had enclosed an invoice from a transport company as back up for the value but that company denied producing that invoice.

When he was interviewed Gribbin said he had bought vehicles from the company but had lost the relevant invoice and when he could not find the original had created one himself for the same amount.

In mitigation, Manisha Singh said Gribbin had genuinely owned a trailer which was previously stolen and had not been covered for insurance.

She urged the judge not to jail him immediately in spite of his subsequent claim on the equipment not then being legitimate.

She said Gribbin’s mother was the director of the business but relied on her son as an employee to run the firm which had already created 25 new jobs which would be in jeopardy if he was not there.

She had health problems and had suffered greatly following the death of Gribbin’s father in October and as a result of an attack by a livery customer.

Imposing an eight month jail sentence on Gribbin, who admitted one charge of fraud, Judge Robert Bartfield said he had just been persuaded to suspend that for 12 months.

He said Gribbin had done himself no favours “playing the system” and admitting the offence only on the day of trial in spite of the evidence against him.

He also ordered him to do 200 hours unpaid work on top of the suspended sentence to give something back to the community.

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