AN insurance broker who stole £90,000 from his clients has been jailed for three years.

Clive Hesketh, aged 47, issued false insurance policies to law firms in Bolton and Bury.

He was jailed at Bolton Crown Court yesterday after pleading guilty to 11 counts of false representation between January and October, 2010.

Recorder Susan Grocott QC said: “I regret to say I find your personal mitigation to be not existent.

“I accept you got yourself into business difficulty but you stand alongside many other members of the community who could have faced increased pressure during recessionary times.”

Hesketh, of Sunny Bower Street, Tottington, was self-employed with a good reputation and was personally recommended between companies.

Trading as Pinnacle Insurance Services in Bury, he sold Professional Indemnity (PI) policies to nine local law firms and one in Wolverhampton.

He also sold Employment Liability Insurance to a social club in Ashton-Under-Lyne, Manchester.

Prosecuting, Liam Donnelly said: “Much of his business was gained by personal recommendation, he was trusted by those he dealt with.”

But the cash was never paid to the insurance firm and the cover was never in place.

Hesketh set up monthly credit agreements and produced fake certificates, pocketing the cash to pay off debt within his own business, which he claimed was due to the recession.

It was only in June this year that Hesketh’s crimes were discovered when one of the companies contacted the insurer directly to ask for the documents only to be told their policy did not exist.

The Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) requires all firms have PI insurance as protection against claims made by clients.

Other firms were contacted and discovered they too had been duped. The SRA contacted the police and Hesketh was arrested.

Hesketh has also been convicted of motoring offences, including failing to stop at the scene of an accident and failing to report an accident.

In March, 2008, he was found guilty of driving while disqualified and received a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, which was still in place when the fraud was committed.

A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing is due to be held on December 22.