A MOTORIST’S sudden braking manoeuvre which caused a four vehicle shunt was described as a deliberate act to seek a compensation pay-out.

That was the opinion of a judge who imposed a suspended prison sentence on 48-year-old Phillip Harker, after a jury at Durham Crown Court found him guilty of dangerous driving.

It arose following police inquiries into the multiple collision, on Chainbridge Road, Blaydon, near Gateshead, at 1pm on July 23, 2015.

Christopher McKee, prosecuting, said Harker’s sudden brake caused a concertina with two cars and a lorry behind all colliding with the vehicle in front, injuring two female drivers.

Mr McKee said Harker was seen tubbing his neck as he got out of the damaged Toyota Prius, belonging to his employer, a hardware supplier.

He was said to have inquired about an insurance claim that evening, stating he had to brake sharply to avoid hitting a blue car which suddenly came to a halt ahead,.

Harker gave the same explanation to police and his employer, but examination of cctv footage which later emerged, revealed there was no blue car.

He then claimed he must have accidentally knocked the hand brake on while trying to press an instrument on his control panel.

But inquiries with Toyota ruled out that explanation, and, so at trial, Harker, who denied dangerous driving, could offer no reason for the sudden braking.

The jury, however, returned a unanimous guilty verdict.

Graeme Cook, for Harker, of Pheasantmoor, Washington, said it cost him his previous unblemished record and clean driving licence, his job of 23 years, while he has also had to refund the £2,500 paid to him by insurers, for physiotherapy treatment, on the basis of his original explanation.

Imposing a 14-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, Judge Simon Hickey ordered Harker to pay the £3,500 costs of the case.

He told Harker the ‘accident’ was, “completely avoidable”.

“I’m quite satisfied you planned to crash that company car on what was quite a busy road.

“The reason I make that finding is because you not once, but twice, broke coming off a slip road.

“When confronted with the evidence you twice changed your account, with the clear inference you were lying, shifting your story as the evidence was presented.

“I don’t think for a moment you thought of the consequences you could have caused.”

Judge Hickey, who said serious injuries could have ensued, also banned Harker from driving for three years.