Taxi driver pocketed more than £30,000 after inventing fictitious dogs dying in bizarre accidents including chasing seagull off Blackpool pier

A taxi driver from Kirkby, Merseyside, has been given a suspended prison sentence after pocketing over £30,000 through a series of fraudulent pet insurance claims for dogs that never existed. Robert Cretu, 40, invented elaborate stories of pets dying in accidents, including one dog supposedly leaping off Blackpool Pier while chasing a seagull and another struck by a lorry in the Lake District, in order to defraud multiple insurers. The case highlights the wider cost of insurance fraud, with the judge noting that such crimes drive up premiums for honest customers.

Cretu made 30 false claims to five different insurers between December 2023 and August 2025, submitting fake documents and veterinary notes to net a total of £31,700, often using false names for policies and payments. He admitted five counts of fraud by false representation at Liverpool Crown Court, telling police the money went towards family finances after his taxi repeatedly broke down and left him in financial difficulty. He was sentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, with a rehabilitation requirement of up to 20 days, and intends to repay the insurers.