Caught on their own CCTV, £750k crash-for-cash gang
A FAMILY firm was at the heart of one of the UK’s biggest bogus crash rackets, which has landed friends and relatives with more than 80 convictions and 100 years of prison sentences.
The scam – which saw dozens of car accidents staged for insur-ance payouts – was exposed after CCTV at the Yandell fami-ly’s garage business captured one of the fake smashes.
Prosecutor Christopher Clee said: ‘If all the crash claims were true, the Yandells would have been the unluckiest family in the land.’
After a two-year investigation the fraud ring was finally busted. In total 57 vehicles were crashed deliberately at a cost of £763,068 to insurers.
Last night experts said the scam will have inevitably bumped up the cost of insurance for honest drivers across the country.
Police discovered the racket when they visited St David’s Crash Repair and easifix in the village of Pengam in Blackwood, South Wales, while investigating a series of motorbike thefts.
officers found CCTV footage of a Land Rover repeatedly being driven into a forklift truck.
It would be another two years before everyone involved was brought to justice following a series of court cases. When the case ended this week the number of convic-tions had reached 81.
Byron Yandell, 32, his father Peter Yandell, 53 and wife Rachel Yan-dell, 31, along with Gavin Yandell, 31, and Michelle Yandell, 52, were all jailed for between two and six years for the racket.
Rachel Yandell alone made 28 sep-arate crash claims using their garage business as a cover. Another 76 of their family and their friends, with ages ranging from 23 to 73, were con-victed for other roles – bringing a total of 100 years of jail sentences.
The final five were found guilty of conspiracy on Thursday at Cardiff Crown Court and will be sentenced next month. They were Bethan Palmer, 26, of Newport, Stephen Pegram, 49, of Blackwood, Nicola Cook, 41, of Hengoed, Nicola Rees, 48, of Bargoed and Stephen Brooks, 45, of Cardiff.