A YOUNG man under financial pressure after finding himself in charge of the family business made a fraudulent £10,000-plus insurance claim.

Jonathon Brown told his insurance company he was driving his Mini Cooper when it was involved in an accident, in August last year.

But Newcastle Crown Court heard that he had loaned the vehicle to a friend and was not behind the wheel when it crashed.

Geoff Mason, prosecuting, said Brown's insurers paid out £10,875, based on his claim.

Brown, 22, of Potters Bank, Durham, admitted obtaining a money transfer by deception, at a previous hearing.

The court was told that he has reimbursed £4,611, which was the amount of the claim paid directly to him by the insurance company.

Robert Adams, for Brown, who is of previous good character, said it was a case of, "a genuinely good man who did a silly thing at a time he was under great stress".

He said Brown found himself under financial pressure having taken over the running of the family business, due to illness suffered by his father and grandfather.

Recorder Brian Forster said a custodial sentence was not in the public interest due to his previous unblemished character and other mitigation in the case.

But he told Brown: "Insurance companies naturally depend upon those with whom they deal to behave in an honest way.

"They often are not in a position to be able to check out what they are being told.

"They don't usually run their own detective agency, and, in many situations, they deal with the situation at face value.

"For that reason, when people commit this type of offence the usual sentence is custody."

Recorder Forster said that at a time when Brown had to take on responsibility for the "stress and burden" of the family business, it appeared he saw the claim as "an easy fix".

He imposed a two-year conditional discharge, and ordered Brown to pay £747 costs over the next 12 months.