MPs' expenses: Lord Taylor jailed for 12 months
Former Conservative peer falsely filed for travel and overnight subsistence to claim more than 11,000 from taxpayer, court told
Lord Taylor of Warwick became the first peer to be jailed over the expenses scandal when he was sentenced to 12 months for falsely claiming more than 11,000 in expenses.
The 58-year-old, the first black Conservative peer, was guilty of a "protracted course of dishonesty" in falsely claiming overnight and subsistence allowances he was not entitled to, judge Mr Justice Saunders said at Southwark crown court, in London.
As Taylor, a former barrister, was sentenced, it emerged that more than a dozen of his fellow peers had refused to give evidence to support his defence at his trial.
Among them was Lord Clarke of Hampstead, a former chairman of the Labour party who was ordered by the judge to attend court after initially refusing.
He was served with a summons to attend the trial after initially saying the expenses scandal had already caused him stress.
Taylor's barrister, Mohammed Khamisa, QC, revealed at a hearing before the trial that attempts to get other peers to give evidence had failed. He told the judge at the time that the 15 or so witnesses from the Lords refused to help Taylor, despite having shaped his belief that his claims were legitimate.
Taylor falsely filed for travel and overnight subsistence to claim more than 11,000 from the taxpayer, the court heard.
He had told the House of Lords members' expenses office that his main residence was a house in Oxford, when he in fact lived in Ealing, west London.
The Oxford property was owned by the partner of Taylor's nephew, Robert, and the peer had visited on only two occasions and never stayed overnight. He was therefore not entitled to claim money for travelling from Oxford to London and staying overnight in the capital.
Taylor's nephew knew nothing of his uncle's claims, and the investigation into the offences had caused him "considerable distress," S! aunders said.
"He was thrust into the media spotlight, where he had no desire to be," the judge said. "In my judgment, that is an aggravating feature of these offences".
Taylor, the first parliamentarian to stand trial over the expenses scandal, was convicted in January of six counts of false accounting for making 11,277 worth of fraudulent claims between March 2006 and October 2007.
He had told the jury he had understood that all he needed was a "family connection" to a property to call it a main residence on his claims forms, and that the expenses were viewed as being "in lieu of salary" for unpaid peers.
In mitigtation, Khamisa asked the judge to "temper justice with mercy" and to impose a suspended sentence. He said Taylor was a man of "previous good character" who had made a "monumental error of judgment which has destroyed his life".
"Every fibre of Lord Taylor resonates with public service motivated with a desire to serve, inspire, enable, an act as a role model," he said.
As an unpaid member of the House of Lords, Taylor could not be said to have been "driven by greed", unlike some salaried MPs prosecuted over their expenses, Khamisa said.
He said Taylor not motivated by "money, glory, pomposity, arrogance or greed". His peerage had contributed to the break-up of his marriage. The criminal proceedings meant he had lost three of his four consultancies, and the fourth had not paid him for three months. He had been forced to borrow 50,000 equity on his house to live off, his lawyer said,
But imposing the 12-month sentence, Saunders said that, while the way the House of Lords expenses scheme operated "lacked clarity", that did not relate to Taylor.
"Whatever ambiguity there may have been in the expenses system operated by the Lords, that did not contribute to what Lord Taylor did except in so far as he may have believed, as a result of the way the system was run, that he could get away with false claims, and he may have believed, rightly or wrongly, that ! others w ere abusing the expenses system," the judge said.
When confronted by the Sunday Times over his claims, Taylor had "told lies", he added. When he told the jury "he had not lied" but had "made a mistake", "that was also a lie".
Taylor had told his probation officer "that he fully accepts that he is guilty of the offences and has expressed regret and remorse for what he had done," Saunders added.
He said: "While it is to his credit that Lord Taylor admits his guilt, it does mean he accepts that he wasn't telling the truth on oath in the witness box."
He had read a "truly remarkable series of references from a very large number of people" who praised Taylor's dedication to public service, his charitable work and his help to others, "all done with a gentle humility",
The judge said: "All that Lord Taylor has thrown away. Not by one stupid action, but by a protracted course of dishonesty.
"It was considered that people who achieved peerage could be relied on to be honest. Making false claims involved a breach of a high degree of trust."
"The expenses scandal has affected the standing not just of the House of Commons but also the House of Lords. In the telling phrase used by the chaplain to the Speaker, it has left an indelible stain on our political system."
He said he could not distinguish between sentences to be imposed on peers because, unlike MPs, they were not paid.
Despite his conviction, Taylor, who could be released on licence in four months, is set to remain a member of the House of Lords.
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