A judge has jailed eight men for their part in a £40,000 cash for crash scam involving two cars in Denby Dale.

Leeds Crown Court heard today a collision was staged between the vehicles on the evening of January 23, 2013, so fraudulent insurance claims could be made both for damage to the cars and for supposed personal injury.

But an accident investigator for the insurers was suspicious and no money was paid out in the end.

Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, said it was the Crown’s case that two other men not in court were the prime movers of the conspiracy, Nadeem Khalid and Sahir Mohammed, who ran Concept Claims.

They were the organisers and profiteers of six similar staged crashes and both had already been jailed and had not been further prosecuted in this case.

He said in this case Andrew Cleary had acquired a BMW from Khalid’s brother Thazeem on December 12 and the plan was hatched to stage a collision.

The other vehicle, a Vauxhall Corsa, was hired on January 23 and was driven by Mason Joseph Brayshaw.

His passengers were his half-brother Daniel, Ellick Smith and Joseph Pinnock while Cleary had Thomas Summers, Joshua Turner and Sean Boustead in his car.

As Cleary drove by on Barnsley Road Mason Brayshaw pulled out of a side street and collided with him at about 10mph-15mph.

“Some damage was caused to both vehicles, but those involved clearly did not think that the damage looked serious enough,” said Mr Sharp. “The BMW was therefore moved and driven again into the Corsa again at low speed.”

He said afterwards the police were called “no doubt to provide a colour of legitimacy to the planned claim.”

Each of those involved gave a similar account of a collision after it had been snowing.

According to Daniel Brayshaw the conspirators went to the White Hart public house where Mason Brayshaw was then living and a man turned up with Concept Claim forms. Some signed them that night, others in the following days and Concept referred the forms to solicitors for claim against Zurich Insurance, the underwriters for the rented car.

Mr Sharp said some saw doctors for ‘whiplash’. Had the total claims succeeded there was a potential loss to the insurers of around £40,000.

Lawyers for the defendants said they realised they had been foolish, some blaming financial problems. All admitted conspiracy to defraud.

Mason Brayshaw, 28, recently of Boggle Road, Fylingdales near Whitby was jailed for 20 months and disqualified from driving for 22 months; Cleary, 29 of Moorlands, Scholes, Holmfirth was jailed for 14 months and disqualified from driving for 19 months.

Boustead, 30 of Bedford Close, Lepton; Summers, 26 of Reservoir Side Road, Linthwaite; Turner, 29 of Oldfield Road, Honley, Holmfirth and Pinnick, 24, of Gregory Drive, Kirkburton were each jailed for 10 months.

Daniel Brayshaw, 30 of Swithenbank Avenue, Gawthorpe, Ossett and Ellick Smith, 28 of Framlingham Road, Sheffield, were both jailed for seven months.

Judge Tom Bayliss QC told them: “When courts are faced as here with an orchestrated attempt to defraud an insurance company out of a large sum of money we are not concerned simply with punishing those who do it but deterring others.”

“This type of fraud impacts on the public because the public pay for it in terms of increased insurance premiums.”