News

Pair guilty of ‘sordid’ insurance scam

Published

11 years ago

November 4, 2013

A WOMAN from south Pembrokeshire and a man from Carmarthenshire admitted an attempt to defraud the Tesco Car Insurance Company at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Helen Jane Arthur, 43, of Ridgeway, Saundersfoot, and Paul Biella, 26, of College Square, Llanelli, stood in the dock together as they both entered guilty pleas to fraud by false representation, contrary to the Fraud Act 1996.
CPS Prosecutor Gerald Neave told the court that the co-defendants had “met by chance” at the Cross Roads service station in Kilgetty.
Gerald Neave explained: “Arthur had pulled into the garage in her BMW X5. As she was buying petrol, co-defendant Biella noticed the for sale sign in the car window. He offered Arthur £4,000 for the car, but she felt this was not enough and they could not agree a price.”
He added: “Several weeks later when times were hard, a friend suggested to Arthur that she should accept the offer and she searched through her mobile phone to find his number and then eventually got into contact with him.”
Mr. Neave continued: “However, on contacting the co-defendant rather than offering the £4,000 he said that if Arthur paid him £500 he would arrange for the car to be ‘stolen’ and she could claim for the loss of the car against her Tesco car insurance policy.”
“They agreed on this plan of action, and Biella affixed new number plates to the car and collected it from Saundersfoot” Mr. Neave told the court: “At 4.15pm on June 28, Arthur called the police and reported her vehicle stolen. PC Jones attended and took a report. Although Arthur claimed to be in possession of the spare keys, she could not produce them to the police. Police number plate recognition cameras revealed no trace of the car,” he said.
Mr Neave added: “However police were alerted to another vehicle with a different registration mark leaving Pembrokeshire and heading towards Llanelli. When they checked the details they found that the co-defendant Biella was an insured driver. A search of this Llanelli home revealed documents including a service manual for Arthur’s car. He was then arrested and eventually admitted the offences in interview.”
Arthur also admitted to police that she was part of the scam.
Defending, Michael Kelleher said: “Arthur is a lady of clean character hitherto, she has entered a timely guilty plea. She has never been involved with any dishonesty before, and wonders how she got involved in this sordid scam. She has had several family problems. She had bought the BMW X5 and a horse with inheritance money; she wanted a strong car for a horse box.”
Mr. Kelleher said things went wrong when she had various difficulties with her children, which The Herald cannot report as the court has placed us under reporting restrictions.
“The result of these problems was that she needed to sell this vehicle,” Mr Kelleher said.
He added: “It is still Arthur’s position that she was not the prime mover, however we have to accept that this could not have happened had she not agreed to report the vehicle stolen. So they are both in this together.”
Mr Kelleher told the court that he had three character references for Arthur which showed her to be a hard-working parent holding down a part time job at a supermarket.
“The vehicle was returned and Tesco did not pay out. The only person who lost out here was Arthur for paying half of the £500 which her co-defendant had asked for,” he said.
Before retiring for lunch the chairman of the bench said that he was considering all sentencing options from a community sentence to custody.
Following the adjournment, Probation Service Officer, Mrs Norman explained to the court that Biella wasn’t sure what he was going to do with the car, and hadn’t thought that far ahead.
Mrs Norman told the court: “Biella has been suffering from anxiety and depression but is actively looking for work in order to get his life back on track.”
When asked by the probation officer where he would have got the money from when he originally offered £4,000, he said he would have got the money from his parents.
The court was told by probation that it was money issues had prompted this behaviour from Biella.
On sentencing Biella, magistrates said: ”We seriously considered your situation because you’ve got a criminal record already. It was almost a split decision whether or not we should send you to prison.”
For his part in the plot he was given an 18 month community order and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work. He was also fined £145.
On sentencing Arthur, magistrates said: “We have decided to sentence you to a community order. We have reduced your sentence from 16 to 12 months, because of your guilty plea.”
Arthur was also ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work and fined £145.
The chairman of the bench said to the pair: “If we see you in court again you are likely to go to prison”.

Charity

Over 1,100 festive bathers enjoy Tenby’s famous Boxing Day Swim

Published

5 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Tom Sinclair

A RECORD-BREAKING number of 1,150 festive bathers have had a splashing time in the Tenby Boxing Day Swim this morning.

The fancy dress theme of Superheroes – in tribute to the RNLI in its 200th anniversary year – saw Batman, The Incredibles, Wonderwoman and a whole crew of emergency services dashing into the chilly water of Tenby’s North Beach.

RNLI mascot Stormy Stan was there amongst the huge crowds to cheer the brave bathers on their way.
The swim will be one to remember forever for one duo of dippers as they got engaged following a surprise proposal on the sand.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach Philip Frith, 34, made one of his best-ever moves when he popped the question to his girlfriend, former professional dancer Victoria Tansey, 34, who is originally from Hakin.

Said swim chairman Sam Skyrme-Blackhall: “”Well, we said ‘come to the Tenby Boxing Day Swim and take the plunge’ but we weren’t expecting that! Congratulations to the happy couple”.
The swim has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charities and good causes in its 52-year history, and this yeae’s event will see Tenby RNLI as the main beneficiary.

Town mayor Dai Morgan said: ”It’s great to see so many people from here, and for such a good cause. I just love it down on the beach on Boxing Day. The swim is such a fantastic tradition.”
The mayor’s daughter, 18-year-old Erin Morgan, who is Tenby’s town crier, gave a special ‘cry’ to welcome the swim.

Swim chairman Sam supervised 10-year-old Sam Fecci as he fired the swim’s starting pistol – a duty usually carried out by his dad, Stuart, who was not well enough to attend.

Festive tunes and a lively commentary from DJ Steve Briers ramped up the atmosphere on the beach and swimmers emerged from the sea to be presented with commemorative medals and warm up with hot soup donated by the Giltar Hotel and served up by Tenby and District Lions.

‘Taking the plunge’ at a festive swim in Wales this morning meant more than just a dip in the sea for one happy couple.

As hundreds of Boxing Day bathers at the legendary event in Tenby dashed for the water, a magical moment was happening between Victoria Tansey and Philip Frith.
Philip, 34, went down on one knee on the sand and asked Victoria, 37, to marry him.

Fortunately, she said an ecstatic ‘yes’ to the carefully-planned proposal, which saw the couple’s special song Ocean Eyes y Billie Eilish sound out over the beach as the newly-engaged couple celebrated with a splash in the sea.

As a former Royal Marine Philip – who is now a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coach – has faced some scary situations in his life but the Boxing Day proposal was up there with the most nail-biting.
“I’ve been so nervous/special moment.

Victoria, originally from Hakin, Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire, worked as a professional dancer – appearing on the X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and Pineapple Dance Studio: Survival of the Fittest -and before setting up her own entertainment agency.

Although now living in Guildford with Philip, she has always loved returning to her Pembrokeshire roots

“When we first met, Victoria couldn’t wait to show me all around Pembrokeshire and we have made the trip as often as work would allow us, to visit her family, go beach hopping and take in the breathtaking scenery,” said Philip.

“I absolutely love sea swimming, I believe that it is so worthwhile for your body and mind, however Victoria has never been one to enjoy the cold!

“So, on our first Christmas together as a couple, Victoria surprised me by taking me to Tenby for the Boxing Day Swim – it’s honestly one of my most fond memories from the start of our relationship!

“I wanted to return her the favour of surprising her by proposing to her at this year’s swim.”

Victoria’s mum and her childhood best friend , Sean Griffiths – who she set up Milford Haven’s Unison Dance Group with in 2004 –were on the beach to watch the proposal, with Sean bringing along the engagement ring in his pocket to fellow swimmers crowded round to congratulate Victoria and Philip, and swim chairman Sam Skyrme-Blackhall laughed: “Well, we said ‘come to the Tenby Boxing Day Swim and take the plunge’ but we weren’t expecting that! Congratulations to the happy couple”.

Charity

Letterston dog show raises over £750 for local charities

Published

1 day ago

December 25, 2024

Tom Sinclair

ON SUNDAY (Dec 22), Letterston Ring Craft successfully raised £755.55 for two Pembrokeshire-based charities during a fun dog show event. The funds were equally split between South Pembrokeshire Cat Rescue and Letterston Memorial Hall.

The event featured a variety of well-attended classes, including child handling and fancy dress, drawing participation from dog enthusiasts of all levels.

This fundraiser marked the first charitable event supporting South Pembrokeshire Cat Rescue. Founded and managed by Lizzy Austwick, the rescue organisation aids unwanted, feral, and sick cats across Pembrokeshire and responds to urgent cases in Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion. The rescue provides neutering support for stray and feral cats, directs owners to available resources, and specialises in helping stray cats with severe injuries, raising essential funds for their care.

For assistance, Lizzy can be contacted via the rescue’s Facebook page or at 07575 131443.

Letterston Ring Craft welcomes new members interested in training and showing their dogs, from local companion shows to prestigious events like Crufts. The club meets every other Sunday in Letterston, and further details can be found on their Facebook page.

Looking ahead, the next fun dog show is scheduled for early next year and will support Belle’s Story Charity. For more information or to get involved, contact Gentle Lowe at 07956 653401.

Charity

£3,800 donated to services across Withybush Hospital

Published

1 day ago

December 25, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE CAMROSE VINTAGE WORKING DAY team has donated £3,800 to services across Withybush Hospital.

Their 37^th annual event raised a record breaking £25,000, which has now been distributed among 26 local charities.

They donated the funds to the Stroke Ward, Specialist Respiratory Team, Chemo Day Unit and Heads Up! Hair Loss Initiative at Withybush Hospital. Each service received £950.

The Heads Up! initiative provides a person-centred, holistic hair loss service for cancer patients. It brings together healthcare and haircare professionals from local communities to give patients the knowledge and products needed to manage their hair loss with dignity and choice.

Katie Hancock, Fundraising Officer, said: “Thank you to Andrew, the team and the supporters of the Camrose Vintage Working Day for your generosity once again. Your donation to each service is amazing and will make a big difference. We are hugely grateful for your wonderful support.

“The support of our local communities enables us to provide services over and above what the NHS can provide in the three counties of Hywel Dda and we are extremely grateful for every donation we receive.”

Pictured above: Andrew James, Chairman of Camrose Vintage Working Day with Withybush Hospital staff from the Stroke Ward, Specialist Respiratory Team, Chemo Day Unit, Heads Up! Hair Loss initiative.