A DANGEROUS 'crash for cash' fraudster from Bolton has been sentenced after deliberately causing a three car motorway smash – before making a claim for injury.

Ejiofor Jovita Chijoke, also known as Ejiofor Chijoke Jovita, caused the three vehicle crash on the M62 on March 2017.

The 37-year-old of Blackburn Road, appeared before Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday charged with dangerous driving and fraud by false representation.

The motorway pile up happened when Chijoke was driving erractically, darting his Mercedes from lane to lane - before pulling across two lanes and braking suddenly in front a Renault driver.

The Renault driver was able to narrowly avoid the Mercedes, but the truck behind could not stop resulting in a domino-effect collision between the three vehicles.

Two weeks after the accident had occurred, AXA received a claim for whiplash from Chijoke, which stated that the Renault driver had ploughed into the rear of his vehicle. A report was also presented to AXA for the damage to the vehicle, deeming the Mercedes to be beyond economic repair and estimating it to be worth £5,900.

The drivers of the van and the truck claimed that Chijoke had deliberately caused the collision, saying that he slammed on his brakes for no apparent reason. The truck was fitted with a dash cam, which captured Chijoke’s dangerous driving ahead of the crash. After receiving a copy of this footage, Chijoke’s solicitors withdrew his claim.

The case was then referred by AXA to the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED).

Chijoke provided a number of false addresses as his place of residence in order to prevent officers from searching his home. Eventually, he provided the correct address for a property in Oldham.

Throughout questioning, Chijoke maintained that his erratic driving was due to a fault with the vehicle and that he had not intended to cause the crash. However, once at court he pleaded guilty to all offences.

He was sentenced to an 18-month community order, with the requirement to complete 150 hours of unpaid work; and 12-months disqualification from driving, with the requirement to complete an extended retest.

Detective Constable Haywood, of the City of London’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, said: “This case is a prime example of how ‘Crash for Cash’ fraudsters have no consideration for the safety of the innocent road users that they target.

"Fortunately in this case, the drivers walked away unscathed and with just the burden of damaged vehicles.

"However, it is far too easy to imagine how perilous the collision could have been, and this would have been entirely down to Chijoke’s selfishness and greed.

"Thank you to the victims and witnesses who assisted the investigation.”