PAIR STAGED ‘BURGLARY’ TO CLAIM CASH
Insurers told £1,340 of goods were taken
HUSBAND and wife Andrew and Ann Nixon staged a burglary at their home before making a fraudulent claim to their insurance company.
Thirty-year-old Ann Nixon caused damage to her patio door to make it look as though someone had broken into their Fenton home.
And the next day she called her insurance company and gave them a list of the ‘stolen’ items worth £1,340.
But police became suspicious, searched the property, and found the goods the Nixons had reported stolen.
Now they have both been handed a 12-month community order with a rehabilitation activity requirement for 20 days. Ann Nixon was also ordered to carry out 100 hours’ unpaid work.
Prosecutor John Brotherton told Stoke-on-trent Crown Court a third party called Staffordshire Police at 1.04pm on January 2 to say that the Nixons’ home in Fenpark Road, Fenton, had been broken into.
Officers attended the next day and Ann Nixon said she and her family had been away and received a call at 11am to say their home had been broken into. She said they returned at 2.30pm and discovered their back door had been damaged and left open and items worth £1,340 had been stolen.
She listed the items including a CCTV hard drive, an X-box, two ipad minis, a Playstation 4, a television and a computer.
Mr Brotherton said: “All parties seemed to be laying the blame at their neighbours.”
Police made inquiries with the Nixons’ insurance company, Aviva Insurance, and officers became suspicious.
The couple were arrested on April 24 and officers searched their address and recovered the items reported as stolen. The court heard Aviva Insurance did not make any payment to the Nixons.
The pair, of Bishop Street, Fenton, pleaded guilty to fraud.
Jason Holt, mitigating for Ann Nixon, said the mum-of-five has now lost her good name.
He said: “There were two or three phone calls between January 2 and January 5. When there was a request for serial numbers of receipts, it was left there. She did not pursue the matter any further.
“This was never going to succeed. Because of dealings the local beat officer has had with the Nixons, he was suspicious at the outset.”
Martin Bloor, representing 31-year-old Andrew Nixon, said: “It is clear the lead is often taken by his wife, rather than him. She tends to organise the household. That is the case in relation to this offence.
“He has to accept responsibility. He did nothing to stop his wife reporting the incident or making the statement to the police, and he was aware a false allegation of burglary was being made.”
Both Ann and Andrew Nixon were ordered to pay £200 costs.
Recorder Martin Wasik said: “This probably had something to do with the background of bad relations with the neighbours.”