Leg it
Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 11:09 pm
A conman was caught out by an online viral video after making a false £17,000 insurance claim that he suffered a horror injury in flash flooding.
Stephen Robinson, 30, told Newcastle City Council he broke his ankle when a drain collapsed as he walked through water on a road near his home. The local authority passed the case to its specialist insurance firm who set aside a taxpayer funded cash pay-out.
But officials discovered a YouTube video which showed Robinson acting up to a huge crowd as he leapt into the pool of water. Dozens of people cheered the show-off as he took a running jump into the flooded road, only to collapse onto the ground seconds later. There are then gasps of horror as he pulls his leg clear of the water to show his foot sticking out of his leg at an unnatural angle.
Yesterday, Robinson was fined £600 and ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work after admitting fraud by false representation at Newcastle Magistrates' Court. He admitted willingly jumping into the water in Pooley Road, Slatybridge on June 28, 2012, as the city was struck by flash flooding. Investigators discovered the heavyset fraudster landed on top of a hidden metal drain, which contributed to his injury.
