Brothers Lee Cullen and Craig Cullen are now behind bars over their false insurance claims against Cardiff Council.
The Cullens, who were found guilty of four counts of contempt of court, were arrested after being sentenced this month to an immediate prison sentence of four months. The two did not participate in the proceedings at Cardiff’s High Court of Justice prior to their arrest.
“This case came to light when both Lee Cullen and Craig Cullen claimed to be a passenger in a Volkswagen transporter van when a council Ford Tipper drove into the back of the vehicle,” noted a spokesperson for Cardiff Council, which is insured by Zurich Insurance.
“At the time of the collision, the transporter van braked sharply to avoid concrete blocks which slid off the back of a flatbed lorry. The issue for both the Cullen brothers was that they were not actually in the transporter van at the time of the collision, as the only people in the vehicle were the driver and two relatives.”
The incident took place in 2014, and two other crash-for-cash scammers were involved – Kevin Hooper, who was sentenced to eight months in jail in 2016, and Michael Falkingham, who was given a four-month sentence which was suspended for 18 months in 2019.
Referring to the brothers, the spokesman stated: “This final sentencing now brings an end to this cash-for-crash scam. In this road traffic collision which took place on March 06, 2014, four people tried to fraudulently claim money for injuries which didn’t occur and all of these people claimed to be in the transporter van when they were not in the vehicle. That in itself beggars belief.
“I am pleased to report that three of these people were sent to prison immediately and one escaped with a suspended sentence, as he actually bothered to come to court and provided mitigation to his case.”
Zurich was represented by Horwich Farrelly Solicitors. Meanwhile the council stressed that all insurance claims against it are double-checked, with inconsistencies flagged up with the insurer so they can be investigated with a view to prosecute offenders.
