A man in the Spainish province of Castellon has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for amputating his hand to get an insurance payment. According to local media, the man was a farmer who was struggling to pay his mortgage.

La Vanguardia reported that the man pretended his hand had been cut off in a car accident. After amputating his hand, he is said to have driven the car up a slope with the hand at the foot of the driver's seat. He then lit the car on fire and called the emergency services.

However, police said that when they arrived at the scene, they found the man lying on the ground and smoking a cigarette. He proceeded to claim insurance on the basis of eight different policies, including for permanent disability, severe disability, death and more. He then undertook legal action to collect the insurance.

A Provisional Court in Castellon handed him a four-year prison sentence after it was proved that he cut off his own hand. This was later reduced by the Supreme Court to three years and six months, as well as repay 335,000 euros that he had received from insurance agencies.

Proceedings for the case began in June 2009 and the judgement was delivered in January 2016.