A Medway man has pleaded guilty to involvement in an insurance con in which a Mr Whippy ice cream van was used to stage fake accidents across the country.

Barry Sandmann, 39, who lives in Strood, has been convicted of fraud after an investigation by the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), which is part of the City of London Police.

Sandmann, of Brompton Lane, admitted the offence at the Old Bailey in London, and will be sentenced later this month.

The ice cream van was identified as being linked to three separate fraudulent insurance claims, which, had they all been paid out in full, would have cost the insurers in the region of £100,000.

Detectives from IFED are also now appealing for anyone with information about the Mr Whippy van or its owner to contact them, as officers continue to try and identify others behind the scam.

Sandmann pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and fraud by false representation.

The court heard he lied about being involved in an accident with an ice cream van in Strood, to allow others to make fraudulent claims.

"We're determined to try and identify and bring all those involved to justice" - DC Paula Doyle

The court also heard how he lied about the time of another genuine accident to try and get insurance cover for damage caused to another van when he reversed his into it.

In December 2013, Sandmann was driving his uninsured van at the entrance to a builder’s yard in Strood when he reversed into another van.

He then took out an insurance policy with Allianz shortly after the collision and lied about the time of the accident.

But his story was proved false when the driver of the other vehicle produced time-stamped images of the damage, which were taken about an hour before Sandmann claimed the collision happened.

Sandmann continued to insure his van with Allianz and in February 2014, he contacted them again to report he had been involved in a collision with an ice cream van, again in Strood.

A forged estimate for the repairs to the ice cream van was sent to Allianz for £23,880 and when the van was inspected in Leicester, where it had been moved and stored, it was recognised by specialists who had only looked at it months before in Burnley for another claim.

This time, NFU Mutual had paid out £15,400 by cheque to an address in Burnley where the driver claimed to live, despite the accident happening in Bristol.

Allianz referred the case to the IFED, and detectives discovered the NFU Mutual cheque was cashed by somebody using a false Irish driving licence as identification.

After an alert by the department was issued to the insurance industry about the scam, a further case involving the same ice cream van came to light; this time the collision supposedly in Burnley in August 2013 and the claim being dealt with by Covéa Insurance.

Their engineer inspected the van, but found it was using false plates as it was a different model and colour to the van it was supposed to be.

When they tried to trace the owner, they were unable to contact him.

"We're keen to hear from anyone who may have seen this ice cream van, or knows who owns it" - DC Paula Doyle

Furthermore, the other vehicle allegedly involved in the collision was found by Covéa Insurance’s investigators to be on sale on Gumtree just 12 days later, completely undamaged.

The driver and two other men who were said to have been in the other vehicle were all given police cautions after they admitted the claims were false.

When detectives compared images of the ice cream van taken by all three insurers, the damage was the same, the stock in the van was the same and the mileage shown on the odometer was identical – indicating the vehicle had not been driven at any time between the ‘accidents’, let alone between Burnley, Bristol, Leicester and Strood, as per the claims.

Sandmann is due to be sentenced on Friday, May 27 at the Old Bailey and has been bailed until that date.

DC Paula Doyle, who investigated the case said: "In the space of two months, Sandmann not only tried to take out a policy to cover him for an accident that had already happened, but then tried to facilitate a crash for cash scam so that others could profit.

"We’re keen to hear from anyone who may have seen this ice cream van, or knows who owns it, as there are others involved in setting up this scam that we have not been able to identify.

"Thanks to the good relationships and information sharing between IFED and the insurance industry, what first appeared to be an isolated incident has been uncovered as an organised scam and we’re determined to try and identify and bring all those involved to justice."

Anyone with information is asked to call the IFED on 020 71648200 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.