A BUSINESSMAN who tried to claim more than £10,000 in damages after saying he slipped and fell in a Bradford supermarket will be sentenced for fraud at Crown Court next month.

Waheed Iqbal, 36, also asked for £3,800 after claiming to have been knocked unconscious by a buckle from a punchbag in a Shipley gym.

He was found guilty on two charges of fraud by false representation after a trial at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court last month, and during a hearing at the same court yesterday, magistrates decided the matter needed to be transferred to the higher court for sentencing.

Prosecuting, Paul Ramsey told the court that in December 2012, Iqbal, of Hollings Road, Girlington, Bradford, had visited the Lidl store on Manchester Road, Bradford, and claimed to have slipped on a wet bakery bag, banging his head on the floor of one of the isles.

He was wheeled out of the store, but was then said to have refused transport to hospital via ambulance so he could return to the shop and speak to the manager about filling in accident forms.

He subsequently went to A&E the following day, complaining of pain from where he had supposedly hit his head, and vomiting.

A claim for "more than £10,000" was subsequently submitted from solicitors representing Iqbal, saying he had suffered soft-tissue damage to his back, leg, and ankle as a result of the fall.

The court also heard Iqbal had claimed to have been knocked out with a broken nose when using a punchbag at the Nuffield Health Fitness & Wellbeing Centre in Shipley in May 2012.

He said that while using the bag, a buckle on one of the straps had come loose and struck him in the face.

A member of staff at the gym was said to have noted the injury as a "tiny 1cm cut" across the bridge of Iqbal's nose, before reporting it in the accident book.

The court heard that although Iqbal had visited A&E two days later saying he had been "knocked out for ten seconds" and complaining of "numbness, headaches, and vomiting", he was discharged with just medical advice.

He subsequently made a claim to insurers via his solicitors saying he had been knocked unconscious, left with a permanent scar on his nose, and had suffered neck injuries, flashbacks, anxiety, and difficulty sleeping.

In June 2012, he was said to have been offered £1,000 in compensation from the gym, but declined as he wanted more than £3,000 in damages.

Mr Ramsey said: "This is not a victimless crime, and I would ask for compensation for all parties for these bogus claims."

In mitigation, solicitor advocate Tom Rushbrooke told the court that Iqbal and his family business had suffered since the death of his brother in 2012.

"It was a stupid and foolish way to try and make money, which he deeply regrets," he said.

Chairman of the magistrates' bench Steven Feeley granted Iqbal unconditional bail ahead of his sentencing at Bradford Crown Court on December 5.