The moment a chef broke his girlfriend's leg in £100,000 compensation scam (after giving her a bottle of Pernod and Valium to dull the pain)

Gordon Thomson planned to sue his local council, claiming Elizabeth Hingston had been injured by a falling wall.

But the plot came undone when police found sickening video footage of the incident on Thomson's mobile phone.

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Grinning: Gordon Thompson, who broke his girlfriend's leg in a compensation scam, is led into Plymouth Crown Court today before being sentenced

In it, the 32-year-old unemployed chef was seen placing Miss Hingston's left leg between two bricks and jumping on it with both feet.

The sound of the sickening crack rang around Plymouth Crown Court yesterday as a judge watched the video.

Miss Hingston, 28, who had agreed to the plot, had drunk a bottle of Pernod and taken Valium to dull the pain. But she could be heard screaming in agony after her leg was broken.

She needed surgery and spent six months on crutches. The couple split up weeks after the incident.

Miss Hingston was not charged for her part in the plot.

The couple reported the injury and the fallen wall but never made a formal claim against Plymouth City Council. They did tell a friend, however, that they hoped to win £100,000 for the injury.

Thomson, of Plymouth, admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent in the incident in October 2006. Scroll down for more...

Gordon Thomson with his fiancee Lauren Patridge. His former girlfriend Elizabeth Hingston had originally suggested the idea of breaking her leg

David Gittins, prosecuting, said police found the video clip on Thomson's phone when he was arrested in a drugs raid the following month.

Officers traced Miss Hingston who told them she had suggested the idea to make money.

Mr Gittins said: "The council were informed by the defendant the wall had collapsed and injured his girlfriend but he did not take it further than that.

"Thomson told police he had broken the leg but said she had gone on and on at him to do so.

"He said he did not think he would break her leg when he jumped on her but did so to shut her up. He said he asked a friend to film it on his mobile to show she had agreed to it.

"He said he kept it on his phone to show others to get a reputation for being violent and said it was a help in this world to have a reputation."

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The horrific sequence of events captured on Thompson's mobile phone. The footage was found by police when they conducted a drugs raid on his house in Plymouth

Robert Linford, defending, said Miss Hingston had come up with the entire idea. "She said they arrived at the idea after seeing accident claim solicitors' advertisements on television for nowin, no-fee claims and so forth," he said.

"She was a volunteer and in the circumstances the culpability of this defendant is reduced very significantly.

"She comments that far from him taking advantage of her vulnerability, it was her who was exploiting his vulnerability."

Judge Francis Gilbert, QC, jailing Thomson, told him: "This is an extraordinary case. You broke Miss Hingston's leg deliberately at her request and with her consent in order to make a false claim against the city council.

"Whether or not she consented or suggested the scheme, it is no defence. You inflicted really serious harm to another person deliberately and with pre-meditation for a wholly financial motive."