A FATHER and son who made bogus civil claims against companies in a series of “very unusual frauds” have been sentenced.

Paul Cooke, 58, and son Tom Cooke, 22, both appeared before Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, November 14.

The pair, both of Millbrook Lane, Eccleston, were sentenced by a judge after having pleaded guilty to offences in a previous hearing.

Paul Cooke was sentenced for involvement in claims against three companies, one of which amounted to nearly £4.8m against Birmingham Midshires.

Meanwhile, Tom Cooke was sentenced for his involvement in the first two.

The court heard how the pair engaged in fraud over the course of just three months in the autumn of 2017.

County Court civil claims were made against three separate companies – OneSure Insurance, Martin McColl Ltd and Birmingham Midshires Financial Services Ltd.

The claims were “for money in compensation for alleged wrongdoing by the company in question” and each “was a contrived claim”.

In the cases, the “wrong address for the company being sued was deliberately provided to the County Court”.

This meant that when the County Court sent details of the civil claim to the company in question, it never reached them and so had no opportunity to file a defence to the claim.

In the first fraud against OneSure Insurance the defendants succeeded in having judgement in default entered against the company.

In the second and third frauds, false documentation was submitted to the court purporting to be from the other party to the litigation in question admitting liability and asking for judgement to be entered against them.

The court heard “the sums involved in the contrived litigation began relatively small but quickly escalated”.

The first claim was a sum of slightly more than £5,500 while the following month, a claim for £31,500 together with ongoing daily losses was issued against McColls.

The month after that, a claim was brought against Birmingham Midshires which claimed nearly £4.8 million.

The court was told Tom Cooke, helped his dad file "ludicrous" claims to the County Courts, but he was not convicted of involvement in the final, most audacious attempt against Birmingham Midshires Financial Services Ltd.

Paul Cooke, who entered guilty pleas to seven counts, was jailed for 30 months.

Meanwhile, his son Tom Cooke pleaded guilty to five counts and was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for 18 months. He was also ordered to complete rehabilitation activity for 10 days.