The court heard that a VW Passat with four men in was driven into the side of the Kangoo so they could make fraudulent injury compensation claims from insurance companies.

The alleged driver, Sabbir Hussain, 25, and two alleged passengers, Raja Hussain, 30, and Sharear Islam-Miah, 26, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit fraud.

A fourth man, Muhammed Ubaidullah, has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter, conspiracy to commit fraud and attempting to pervert the court of justice.

The trial comes after four Polish men were jailed in the first case of its kind in 2013 after Baljinder Kaur Gill, a 34-year-old motorist, was killed in a crash orchestrated so they could fraudulently claim up to £20,000.

At Leeds Crown Court on Monday, Peter Moulson QC, prosecuting, said: "All were involved, we say, in what has come to be known as a cash for crash collision.

"Their collective plan was to deliberately collide with another vehicle and then follow that vehicle with claims for financial compensation for injuries allegedly sustained in that collision."