A FATHER involved in a £104,000 insurance scam in which cash was claimed for non-existent storm damage hasd had his conviction challenge turned down by top judges.
Munsif Dad went to the Appeal Court in a last-ditch bid to clear his name after he was convicted of conspiracy to defraud over the con which ran from 2005 to 2007.
Dad, of Barkerhouse Road, Nelson, was given a nine-month suspended sentence at Burnley Crown Court in August, 2010.
Lord Justice Pitchford said the 62-year-old was “one of a number of members of the Dad family and others who stood trial on an indictment of conspiracy to defraud”. His two sons, Nadeem and Amer Dad, were each jailed for 15 months after they were convicted.
The judge, sitting with Mr Justice Walker and Judge Paul Batty, said the Crown claimed Dad submitted false insurance claims for “storm damage, roofing repairs and damage to property at two separate addresses with which he was associated”.
The core issue for the jury at Dad’s trial was “whether the claims were fraudulent, and if so whether Dad was implicated in them”, said the judge.
Dad sat at the front of the court, with a walking stick by his side, as the judge rejected his case.
He had urged the court to grant permission to appeal on grounds that the trial judge should have excluded the evidence of one particular psychiatrist about his fragile mental state.
Dad claimed he was affected by “profound cognitive impairment” which explained the fact that he did not testify at his trial. But the prosecution cast doubt on his claims.
Lord Justice Pitchford said there was “no basis” for the claim that the psychiatrist’s evidence should have been excluded from the trial.