Cash-for-crash gang are jailed

A "CALLOUS" gang who killed a great-grandmother in a cash-for-crash scam were jailed for more than 30 years.

Betty Laird, 88, was horrifically injured after the car driven by Sabbir Hussain smashed into the vehicle she was a passenger in.

The pensioner suffered fatal spinal injuries in the smash in Leeds on September 10, 2014, and died four hours later.

The case became only the second in English legal history to have the verdict decided by a judge - after the jury was dismissed last week following allegations of jurors being offered bribes of up to £500 for not guilty verdicts.

Raja Hussain, 31, of Leeds, who was convicted of manslaughter and conspiracy to defraud, was jailed for 15 years.

The judge sentenced Sabbir Hussain, 25, of Leeds, to 12 years in prison for the same offences, adding he would have been jailed for 15 years if he had not already been serving a seven-year sentence for firearms offences.

Shahrear Islam-Miah, 26, of Chadderton, was jailed for four years for conspiracy to commit fraud after being acquitted by the judge of manslaughter.

Mr Justice James Goss, said: "It was a terrible end to her life and it is sure she suffered at the end. To be killed for reasons of callous, dishonest financial greed is shocking.

"Nothing this court could have done can reverse what you have done. It was a disturbing but clear pursuit of concerted fraud.

"These were premeditated offences with a significant degree of planning and sophistication. The harm was of the gravest and resulted in the death of a wholly innocent victim."