Aleksandar Kovacic, pictured, was fined £10,000 by the High Court yesterday after being found in contempt of court for attempting to exaggerate his injuries following a 2010 road traffic collision
An aspiring social worker who feigned the extent of his injuries following a fatal car crash has been fined £10,000 by the High Court for contempt of court.
Aleksandar Kovacic, 43, had initially sued Aviva Insurance for £1 million having earlier rejected an offer of £350,000 after he was injured in a crash in 2010 which claimed the life of pensioner Norma Wroe, 68.
He was warned yesterday that he faces a three-month jail sentence if he fails to pay the fine within 12 months.
In his judgement, Mr Justice Spencer said Kovacic has two daughters aged eight and ten and he noted that his wife had been diagnosed with cancer in 2013 and was due to meet a consultant for her next appointment in December.
Mr Justice Spencer said: ‘I have considered carefully your children’s article 8 rights under the European Convention and the extent to which an immediate custodial sentence for you would amount to an interference with their family life, as well as yours.
‘I am satisfied that having regard to the seriousness of the conduct for which you have to be punished and the importance of deterring such conduct in the public interest, it would be proportionate to pass upon you a short sentence.’
Justice Spencer added: ‘In all the circumstances I am just persuaded that it is not necessary for you to go to prison immediately. Instead I am prepared to suspend that sentence of three months for a period of 18 months, on condition that you commit no further contempt of court, and that you pay the fine I also impose which is a fine of £10,000.’
In earlier hearings, Kovacic claimed he had suffered life changing injuries after Mrs Wroe’s car crossed the white line on the A422 near Newport Pagnel in March 2010.
He suffered fractures to both legs, his right arm, a rib and his back and spent two months in hospital.
He also underwent further surgery twice and developed infections in his wounds.
However, following his release from hospital, he continued to exaggerate the extent of his injuries and rejected a £350,000 offer from the company.
Mr Kovacic, from Bedford, Bedfordshire, sued Mrs Wroe’s estate and her insurers, Aviva, for £900,000 in damages. Aviva admitted the crash was caused by Mrs Wroe’s negligence.
In his claim, which was initially supported by clinical experts, Mr Kovacic said he could barely walk, was unable to work and was suffering depression.
But Aviva’s suspicions were raised and he was placed under surveillance in 2013.
Footage shot by private investigators also showed him driving nearly 200 miles on a day out with his family, taking his children to school and climbing in and out of his car with ease.
He was also seen walking without a stick and carrying heavy items.
However, he did use his stick, and appeared to limp and get in and out of a taxi with difficulty, while attending an appointment with a Harley Street medical expert for the defence.
After viewing the videos, which were recorded on nine days over several weeks, Judge Neil Bidder said he was sure Mr Kovacic’s description of his disabilities ‘simply could not be believed’.
All of the experts who had backed Mr Kovacic’s case changed their opinions in light of the footage.
Mr Kovacic was found to be in contempt of court by the High Court yesterday as a result of his attempts to exaggerate his injuries following a crash in March 2010
Aviva had offered to settle his claim for £350,000, but he insisted on fighting for more in court even after his lawyers withdrew from the case.
Mr Kovacic, who represented himself, told the High Court in London that the undercover footage was ‘unrepresentative’ and did not show him on his ‘bad days’.
He insisted that he could not return to his job or achieve his ultimate career aim of training to be a social worker.
But Judge Bidder said the odds against him only having been filmed on his ‘bad days’ were ‘huge’.
He told the court: ‘I have concluded that Mr Kovacic can simply not be believed in relation to his condition and, except where his claim is supported by reliable other evidence, I am unable to accept his account.’
‘I’m afraid that, having seen him give his evidence and having seen the DVDs, I am driven to the conclusion that he deliberately exaggerated his condition.’
The judge also said that he would have been able to keep his job, from which he was let go in 2012 after nearly two years on sick leave, had he not exaggerated his condition.
He added: ‘I’m afraid to say that I find as a fact that, had he not been exaggerating his symptoms, but returned to work prior to March 2012, he would not have been dismissed by his employers.’
The judge found that Mr Kovacic was entitled to £97,525 damages from the date of his accident to when he substantially recovered, which was about the end of 2011.