A man has been jailed for a year and six people received suspended sentences and/or community service for staging car crashes in order to make fraudulent insurance claims.

All seven were arrested under Operation Nascar which has been running for a number of years in Cork city and county. The operation was set up by gardaí in 2011 amid concerns about motor insurance scams in the county. The seven who appeared before Cork Circuit Criminal Court pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and deception arising out of staged car crashes, in Youghal, Mitchelstown, Leamlara and Model Farm Road in Cork city.

The crashes involved two vehicles rear-ending each other and occurred in 2011 and 2012. Claims were made to Quinn Direct and Liberty Insurance. Judge David Riordan said the incidents were “an attack on the level of trust between valid claims and insurance companies”.

The seven are: Brian Carroll (41), Broomfield, Midleton; John Murphy (55), Blackwater Heights, Youghal; Rory Keating (61), Liscarroll, Mallow; Peter Lonergan (45), Killeagh; South African Rory Hannaway (29); Ian Gosnell (46), Maple Lane, Carrigtwohill; Selena Sexton (39), Blackwater Heights