Three fraudsters involved in a September 2014 collision that killed an 88-year-old woman in Leeds have been convicted despite their attempts to bribe jurors.

 

Justice James Goss convicted Sabir Hussain, Raja Hussain and Shahrear Islam Miah for staging a car accident that led to the death of pensioner Betty Laird.

 

The three were found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud with the two Hussains also convicted of manslaughter, the BBC reported.

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According to the report, a fourth suspect, Mohammed Ubaidullah, earlier pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit fraud. He admitted to authorities that the collision was part of a “cash for crash” scheme and not a genuine accident.

 

“There was a conspiracy to stage a crash for cash with a view to making fraudulent insurance claims,” Goss was quoted as saying in a report by The Times.

 

“The collision was an unlawful act that carried the foreseeable risk that some injury might be caused and, in fact, caused the death of Betty Laird,” the judge added.

 

The report said Laird died of spinal injuries while her close friend, and the driver of the car, 77-year-old Jeff Grimshaw, died two days after the incident.

 

The four fraudsters are expected to receive their prison sentence today.

 

Goss singlehandedly heard the case and convicted the fraudsters after he dismissed other members of the jury who were offered £500 bribes to derail the trial, the Daily Mail reported.

 

He told the court that two different people approached five jurors after they left the court on February 21 “to reach certain verdicts.”

 

“I was satisfied to a standard of sureness that there had been a concerted attempt to tamper with the jury,” Goss was quoted as saying in the report.