TWO men accused of involvement in an audacious insurance scam attempt have gone on trial at Carlisle Crown Court.
A jury heard today (TUES) how police were immediately suspicious as they began to probe the “faked” theft of a BMW in June, 2016. The vehicle – later valued at £18,700 – was driven from a Penrith pub car park and “burned to a crisp” in a remote area between Armathwaite and Cotehill, near Carlisle.
Jurors were told husband and wife James Dixon, 43, and 39-year-old Lucy Dixon, of Skirwith, near Penrith, admit conspiracy to commit fraud.
However, both James Dixon’s brother, David Dixon, and another 46-year-old man, Kenneth Loughran, deny the charge.
Opening the case, prosecutor Brendan Burke alleged the two men’s movements on the night in the Penrith and Armathwaite areas – flagged up by mobile phone mast data – indicated they were “part of the plan that involved the removal and complete destruction of the BMW”.
However, both David Dixon, of Newbiggin, Stainton, near Penrith, and Loughran, of Arnside Road, Carlisle, deny involvement, and insist their presence in the two areas was a “coincidence”.
The trial continues.
