A SOMERSET kickboxer who tried to claim injuries sustained in the ring were caused in a car accident to win an insurance payout has been uncovered as a fraudster.

Dawid Masel, of Weston-super-Mare, told insurer esure that he had suffered serious whiplash injuries in the crash, saying he hit his knee on the dashboard and his head on the side of the vehicle.

But a court heard that he actually walked away uninjured from the minor incident on September 12, 2014, after a low speed shunt from an esure customer.

He was examined three weeks afterwards and claimed that he had subsequently been unable to take part in any sporting activities.

He attempted to claim for alleged whiplash injuries lasting for four months.

However, investigations by esure and specialist legal firm Horwich Farrelly discovered a publicly available video on YouTube of Masel taking part in and winning a 'Total Full Contact' kickboxing fight.

The fight took place just five weeks after the incident and two weeks after the medical examination.

As the name suggests the fight was extremely physical, with the claimant sustaining a number of blows to his head and left knee, both of which he later claimed to have injured as a result of the car accident when consulting a private doctor.

The video footage was presented to Mr Masel's legal representatives with the expectation he would discontinue his claim.

Instead he and his solicitor attempted to tailor his evidence to undermine the video by suggesting he had "largely recovered" from his alleged injuries prior to the fight.

The video was played in court and the judge found it to be particularly compelling, remarking in her judgment that it showed a man "in the picture of health".

The claim was instantly dismissed and the judge ruled the claimant as being fundamentally dishonest ordering him, to pay costs of more than £4,000.

Glen Eastwood, head of technical claims at esure, said: “We are delighted with the result in this case.

"esure investigates all claims thoroughly and this is another example of someone trying to make a fast buck at the expense of law abiding motorists by claiming they are injured, whilst parading their sporting exploits across social media.

"This particular fraudster was lucky just to get away with a substantial financial penalty as he could have been looking at a police record which would seriously affect his future.”