Katie Price’s ex-husband Alex Reid is jailed for eight weeks for lying in witness statement in bid to con £61,000 from insurance firm after crashing his Audi A6
- Former cage fighter Reid sought compensation after crashing his Audi in 2018
- He claimed a stranger agreed to be witness but it emerged they were acquainted
- Axa applied to High Court for case to be committed and Reid has now been jailed
Katie Price’s ex-husband Alex Reid has been jailed for eight weeks for contempt of court after he lied in a witness statement for a compensation claim following a car crash.
The High Court heard the 45-year-old made a county court claim for in compensation after an Audi driven by him was involved in a crash with another driver in January 2018.
As part of that submission, he said in a sworn statement that he did not know a motorbike rider called Darren Summers, who it was claimed had witnessed the crash.
Katie Price’s ex-husband Alex Reid allegedly tried to scam a car insurance firm after ‘knowingly giving a false statement’ about a crash
However, the other motorist’s insurers, Axa Insurance UK, discovered an article on a local news website about an appearance Reid had made at a mixed martial arts (MMA) masterclass in Ipswich in September 2017.
The article stated that Mr Summers, a former European and world kickboxing champion, had organised the event for charity.
The former cage fighter tried claiming up to £50,000 plus £11,500 in ‘special damages’ – but the court heard he likely would have received only £20,000 if the bid was successful.
Reid admitted contempt of court when Axa initiated High Court committal proceedings against him in January this year.
Sentencing him to eight weeks in prison, Mrs Justice Eady said she took into account the mitigation put forward on his behalf, including that his fiancée is six months’ pregnant and he has recently been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.
Pictured: Former cage fighter Reid, from Aldershot, is now engaged to Nikki Manashe, 35, and the couple are now expecting a baby following a seven-year fertility battle
However, the judge said that only a custodial term would reflect the serious nature of his dishonesty.
She said he will serve half of his sentence in prison and the remaining half on licence following his release.
The Celebrity Big Brother winner married model Katie Price in Las Vegas in February 2010, but their relationship was short lived and they divorced 11 months later.
Reid, from Aldershot, is now engaged to Nikki Manashe, 35, and the couple are expecting a baby following a seven-year fertility battle.
The father-of-one revealed last month that he has been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome after years of ‘relentless bullying for being different’.
The reality star said the diagnosis helped him to understand why he’s always felt different and called it a ‘relief’ but admitted it was ‘unnerving.’