An aspiring Bollywood actor staged a crash-for-cash scam in which his girlfriend lied about being pregnant and had to be cut free by firefighters.
Nasir Ghaffar, 34, and Shabina Kassim, 35, admitted trying to swindle £15,554 from insurers.
An innocent motorist told how a Vauxhall Vectra suddenly changed lanes in front of him at traffic lights and slammed on its brakes, causing him to crash into the back.
Kassim was seen by a witness moving into the driver’s seat and later told police she was pregnant.
Paramedics were called over fears she had fractured her spine and firefighters had to cut the Vectra’s roof off to get her out. Emergency services remained at the scene in Hillingdon for three hours.
Ghaffar and Kassim were initially passengers in the Vectra being driven by a third man, who ran off and was never identified.
Ghaffar, who has appeared as an extra in seven Indian movies, said he was forced to take part after he lost £5,000 on a failed visa application.
He once played a police officer and proudly posted a picture on Facebook. Ghaffar, of Penge, told the Standard: “I was working as a barman, then an actor and model. I’m not a criminal, I wasn’t born a criminal.”
Kassim claimed: “We were influenced by someone else who told us ‘why don’t you do this’, and he’s destroyed our lives.
“He’s done a runner, and he’s left the country and given us criminal records. I had a feeling I was pregnant. The hospital did do a pregnancy test. I must’ve had a miscarriage. I’m not a criminal, I made a mistake.”
Ghaffar and Kassim tried to make personal injury claims, repair and legal costs but were convicted of fraud at Inner London crown court after an investigation by City of London Police and insurers LV=.
They were both sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for 18 months and ordered to pay £100 each in court costs. Ghaffar was also ordered to do 160 hours of unpaid work.
Detective constable Agnew, who led the investigation, said: “Ghaffar and Kassim went to great lengths to carry out their crash-for-cash plan and try and claim as much money as they could.”
Clare Lunn of LV= GI said: “It’s bad enough that these fraudsters endangered the lives of other road users for financial gain, but to waste the valuable time of our emergency services in the process is truly shocking.”
