A man deliberately chopped both his legs off by lying under a train in a bid to claim a £2.3million insurance payout, it has been claimed.
A court in Hungary ruled that Sandor Cs., 54, had climbed onto the tracks with the intention of having both his legs run over.
Sandor has faced scrutiny from the authorities since 2014 when both of his legs were run over by a train in the Hungarian village of Nyircsaszari.
Suspicion surrounding the incident was sparked when the authorities were informed that Sandor had taken out 14 high-risk life insurance policies in the year building up to the incident.
Sandor, who was wheelchair-bound after the incident and now uses prosthetic limbs, claimed that he took out the policies after receiving financial advice telling him returns are better on insurance policies than savings accounts.
His wife filed the insurance claims directly after the incident, but they refused to pay up on grounds that they suspected he had inflicted the injury on himself.
Sandor maintains his innocence and claims that he stepped on a shard of glass which resulted in him losing his balance and falling in front of the train that was just departing the station.
The incident resulted in Sandor having both of his legs amputated from the knee down.
The investigation, which has now been ongoing for seven years, was complicated by the fact that the train conductor changed his story.
Initially, the conductor stated that Sandor fell but later claimed that he threw himself in front of the train on purpose.
The case concluded with Sandor receiving a two-year suspended prison sentence and an order to cover £4,725 in legal costs.
Sandor told the media outlet Blikk after the hearing had concluded: “I find the ruling very peculiar, naturally it isn’t what I expected, I am disappointed.
“I need to see this through to the end because, as is, this is not right, and the court must feel the same way.”
Prior to the incident, Sandor worked in the thermal energy sector and installed boilers at home and abroad, but his career ended when he lost his legs.
He claims the injury and the legal case have bankrupted him.
Sandor still has several insurance claims pending, but in light of the court’s decision, they are unlikely to pay up.
It is not clear if Sandor will be able to appeal the decision.