A COUPLE conspired with a business partner to stage a car crash to con an insurance company out of almost £100,000, a court heard.

Musharaf Dean, aged 32, and his wife, Rehana, aged 31, are accused of staging a crash with Luqman Patel, Caroline Catley and David Sleigh, Bolton Crown Court heard yesterday.

The court was told that the defendants faked a crash at the junction of Derby Street and Venice Street in Bolton on July 8, 2002.

The Deans and Patel, aged 22, stood to gain £82,000 in claims from Zurich Insurance, the court heard.

The accident was said to have happened when a Ford Escort, driven by Catley with her partner, Sleigh, in the passenger seat, went into the back of a Vauxhall Vectra driven by Rehana Dean which then shunted into the side of a BMW driven by Patel.

Alaric Bassano, prosecuting, told the jury that the Deans, of Baysdale Avenue, Deane, were joint directors of Nationwide Car Care Ltd in Derby Street, Bolton, which hires out vehicles to people whose cars have been damaged in accidents.

The Deans stood to gain £14,000 and Patel £62,000 — £52,000 for hire charges for a vehicle supplied to him by Musharaf Dean.

Sleigh, aged 47, and Catley, aged 33, of Moorside Avenue, Farnworth, have pleaded guilty to fraud.

The trial continues.