A BMW driver who torched his luxury SUV and falsely claimed it had been stolen has been jailed after being caught by a neighbour's CCTV camera.
Christopher Wood, 61, from Middlewich, Cheshire, told police thieves had taken his BMW X3 Sport after it was found burnt out in woodland a mile from his home. But officers discovered footage showing Wood loading flammable items and a bicycle into the car before driving it away and returning on the bike ten minutes later.
Insurance scam uncovered
Wood had been due to pay a final instalment of £19,464 on his four-year car finance agreement or return the vehicle. His insurer Churchill paid the remaining balance to the dealership and gave Wood £4,493. The total loss to the insurance company was £23,988.
The investigation began on June 7, 2025, after a member of the public found the abandoned BMW in woodland on Cledford Lane. Officers noted the licence plate was removed and significant fire damage. Inside, they found a partially burnt fuel can, a plastic bottle of lighter fluid, and flammable materials including kitchen roll, a yellow tub of garden waste, and bags of barbecue briquettes.
CCTV from a neighbour's property showed Wood on the afternoon of June 6 loading items into the boot, including the yellow container and a pedal cycle. At 2.30am the following day, he drove away, and ten minutes later was captured riding a bike back home.
Financial motive
Wood was arrested on June 20. A text message from BMW dated June 16 showed they had tried to contact him about the end of his agreement, assuming he would keep the vehicle and pay the final balance of £20,000.
Prosecutor Catherine Elvin said: “The prosecution’s case is that the financial burden played a significant motive in the defendant’s actions.” She noted that Wood reported the vehicle stolen to Churchill Insurance, leading to payments of £4,493 to him and £19,464 to BMW Financial Services.
In interview, Wood admitted he looked like the person on the footage but denied financial difficulties and the offences. However, at Chester Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to arson, perverting the course of justice, and fraud.
Mitigation and sentencing
Wood's barrister, Phil Clemo, said his client was a “troubled man at the time” with severe arthritis in his knees requiring double replacement surgery that had been postponed. He said Wood had taken liquid morphine and alcohol, acting “entirely out of character.” Clemo added that Wood was “financially in a relatively comfortable position” and offered to pay back the loss.
Judge Patrick Thompson told Wood: “This offence seems to me well thought out and planned. You took the car, you burnt the car, reported it stolen, gave quite a detailed statement… Then you make a claim to your insurance company. That is not the actions of someone in a drunken state who cannot remember what was going on. It was a significant fraud.”
Wood was jailed for three years and three months.
