Lord Hanningfield: guilty expense fiddler treated 'very well' in jail
Lord Hanningfield, the former Tory peer, has said he was treated "very well" in prison during his few months behind bars for fiddling his parliamentary expenses.
By Andrew Hough, and Martin Evans
12:00PM BST 12 Sep 2011
The 70-year-old former frontbencher has been released from jail after serving just a quarter of his nine-month sentence.
He was jailed in July for nine months but on Monday it emerged he has been been released under curfew after serving a quarter of his sentence. He was freed on an early release scheme from the minimum security prison Standford Hill in Kent.
The former Tory peer was convicted of falsely claiming almost £14,000 for overnight accommodation in London, when on most nights he was returning home to his bungalow, less than 50 miles away from the capital.
On Monday, Ministry of Justice sources confirmed to The Daily Telegraph that he had been released. It is understood he was released last week.
The peer, who has since grown a beard, has been seen walking around his home village of West Hanningfield, Essex. He has also been electronically tagged.
It is understood Lord Hanningfield was released on a home curfew scheme which involves him being electronically tagged. Further details of the conditions attached to the curfew have not been disclosed.
Speaking to reporters for the first time since his release, he said he was treated "very well" in prision but continued to maintain his innocence despite his conviction.
"I have been out of prison for a few days and I was treated very well," he said on Friday.
"Some of the people who were in the prison were better than some of the people on the outside.
"There is much more to my side of the story, which will be revealed when I'm ready."
He added: "This expenses situation has been going on for two and a half years and I am glad it's all over. I'm feeling ok about it all at the moment.
"I just want a couple of weeks to myself to relax and let everything settle down."
Despite being jailed, he has continued to deny any wrongdoing.
He lost his seat at Essex County Council as a result of his crime and is still being investigated for alleged misuse of his corporate credit card by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.
The early release scheme works on the basis of low risk prisoners, who are serving sentences more than three months but fewer than four years, being freed early with an electronic tag.
They serve half the sentence for good behaviour and can have another four-and-a-half months off - but must serve a minimum of a quarter of the sentence.
A by-election for Lord Hannigfield's seat on Essex County Council was won by Tory Ian Grundy. The election for Stock was held on Thursday and Mr Grundy won with 1,820 votes.
Mr Grundy, who is also Chelmsford Council's cabinet member for safer communities, said he was "very proud" to win the election.
During his eight-day trial the jury were told that on one occasion when he had claimed expenses for accommodation he was actually on a flight to India.
He was found guilty of six counts of false accounting in May following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court and was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court to nine months' jail.
Within hours the former pig farmer lodged an appeal against his conviction. He was sacked this month as leader of Essex County Council.
He is still being investigated for alleged misuse of his corporate credit card by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Saunders said he would now be partly remembered as a "benefits cheat".
He said: "While there were ambiguities in the peers' expenses schemes which have resulted in its revision, it was clear from the terms of the scheme, as well as according with common sense, that a peer could not claim an overnight allowance to cover the expense of staying the night in London when he did not stay in London but went home.
"It was perfectly clear from the terms of the scheme, as well as according with common sense, that a peer could not claim for travelling expenses that he did not incur."
Lord Hanningfield, who was tried under his given name of Paul White, was elevated to the Lords in 1998 and served as Tory whip and opposition spokesman on education and transport.
But he became engulfed in the expenses scandal after it emerged that he had claimed thousands of pounds in allowances for overnight accommodation in London, despite being elsewhere at the time.
Under the rules peers could claim an allowance up to £174 a night, without producing receipts, if their main home was outside London and their stay was for the purpose of attending a sitting in the House.
But an investigation discovered that on most nights when Lord Hanningfield claimed to be in London he had been using his chauffeur driven car, provided by Essex County Council, to travel back to his home just 46 miles away.
Lord Hanningfield, who had denied six charges of theft by false accounting, told Chelmsford Crown Court he had made claims for accommodation and travel because “all the other peers were doing it”.
He said: “I do know other peers who made similar claims but I won’t name them.”
During the trial he insisted that his public duties meant he had often been out of pocket and his claims had simply been making up what he had spent elsewhere.
The court heard when he was interviewed by police he told them: “I have done the same as 500 or 600 other peers. I averaged them out because of my expenditure. I have claimed what I thought I could within the law. I have never done anything illegal in my life.”
He added: “I have put so much money into my public life, I regret ever becoming a peer.”
He told the jury: “I do not lead an extravagant lifestyle. Most of my clothes are from Marks and Spencer. I enjoy the occasional glass of wine but that’s about it. I have no savings, no stocks and shares, nothing like that.”
But Clare Montgomery QC for the prosecution said the peer had known that the claims he was making were dishonest.
She said: “On the vast majority of nights he went home to Hanningfield. On the few occasions he did not, he was not in London.
He was variously on aeroplane bound for India or at hotels outside London, all paid for by someone else, mainly Essex County Council.”
The former peer, who lives in the village located near Chelmsford, was the sixth parliamentarian to be convicted of fiddling their expenses following an investigation by The Daily Telegraph.
His former colleague in the House of Lords, Lord Taylor of Warwick and four former Labour MPs David Chaytor, Eric Illsley, Elliot Morley and Jim Devine have all been imprisoned for their part in the scandal.
Last week Margaret Moran, the former Labour MP who claimed for dry rot treatment on a home more than 100 miles from her constituency was charged with fiddling her expenses by more than £60,000.
Miss Moran, one of the last politicians investigated over the MPs' expenses scandal, will appear before magistrates facing 21 charges relating to her parliamentary claims.
The former MP for Luton South, will appear before City of Westminster Magistrates' Court next week.
On Monday, a Prison Service spokesman declined to comment about Lord Hanningfield's release, saying officials did not comment on individual cases.
But he added in a statement: "Home Detention Curfew (HDC) is available to low risk prisoners serving sentences of more than 3 months and less than 4 years, who are deemed appropriate for early release.
"To be placed on HDC, a prisoner must have served a quarter of their sentence and have spent a minimum of 30 days in prison.
"If a prison Governor thinks there is a significant risk to the public, or risk of re-offending on HDC then the release will not be granted."
2 comments:
Looking forward to your fisking of the Lib Dems and Labour too, John. Now that will be a read and a half.
James: I attack corruption regardless of which colour of politics.
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