Driver’s £170,000 bill for faking car crash

A man was handed a £170,000 bill for a “staged” car crash after investigators found he was Facebook friends with the other driver, a court heard.

Stuart Gentry, 40, claimed his Range Rover was hit by a car driven by Lee Miller in Hampshire in 2013.

He told insurers he did not know the other driver, but investigators discovered the pair were Facebook friends. At the High Court yesterday, Mr Justice Teare said Gentry was guilty of a “serious” contempt of court.

He was given a nine-month suspended jail term and told to pay £20,000 damages to the insurers and the £150,000 cost of the legal case.