Footballer took out insurance policy on BMW minutes after smashing into parked cars

An uninsured footballer has been fined thousands after crashing his BMW into three parked cars – and buying insurance minutes later.

Pa Omar Mbowe, 25, took out an hour-long policy moments after the crash four years ago and then lied to police about when the collision occurred, Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard.

His BMW 116i Sport careered into the back of a parked car, which then dominoed two more vehicles into each other in Hulme, Manchester.

The footballer, who played for professionally for Macclesfield Town FC and Finland’s Sporting Kristina, took out the policy between 6.20am and 7.20am on April 29, 2018 and claimed that the crash happened at 6.35am.

But the next day, the insurance company was contacted by another insurer claiming Mbowe had been involved in an accident with one of their policyholders after falling asleep at the wheel at 7am.

The discrepancies and the timing of the policy being taken out led the insurer to refer the case to the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED).

They discovered a vehicle crash report had also been made to Greater Manchester Police at 6.17am on April 29, 2018 – proving Mbowe fiddled the timings so it looked like he was insured at the time, according to police.

But the footballer showed remorse for his actions after admitting the offence during an interview with detectives and said he had already given money to the owners of the damaged vehicles, City of London Police said on Wednesday.

Mbowe, from Manchester, was handed a conditional caution under the agreement that he would cover the costs of repairing two of the cars and any losses to the insurer of the third, but he failed to deliver, the force said.

But after he failed to meet the deadline and did not show up for his hearing, Mbowe was then tracked down and arrested after the case escalated to court.

Abdelkader Rezkallah, police staff investigator at City of London Police, explained: ‘The fact that Mbowe managed to take out a one-hour policy after the accident shows just how quick and easy it is to be covered before heading out on the road.

‘There is no excuse for driving uninsured.

‘Despite admitting to the offences when questioned, Mbowe failed to comply with the conditions of his caution.

‘He then wasted even more of our time by failing to turn up to his court hearing, resulting in the court having to issue a warrant for his arrest.

‘Mbowe has finally faced the consequences of his actions, and will be trading in his team jersey for a high-vis vest over the next year.’

The footballer was sentenced for one count of fraud by false representation at the court last Friday, February 18.

He was given a 12-month community order to do 60 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £3,695 in compensation to the owners of the parked cars.

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