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Denis MacShane jailed for six months over bogus expenses claims Denis MacShane jailed for six months over bogus expenses claims
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The former Labour minister Denis MacShane has been jailed for six months after admitting making bogus expenses claims amounting to nearly £13,000.The former Labour minister Denis MacShane has been jailed for six months after admitting making bogus expenses claims amounting to nearly £13,000.
He pleaded guilty last month to false accounting by filing 19 fake receipts for "research and translation" services. He used the money to fund a series of trips to Europe, including one to judge a literary competition in Paris.He pleaded guilty last month to false accounting by filing 19 fake receipts for "research and translation" services. He used the money to fund a series of trips to Europe, including one to judge a literary competition in Paris.
MacShane's guilty plea followed more than four years of scrutiny of his use of Commons allowances. Parliamentary authorities began looking at his claims in 2009 when the wider expenses scandal engulfed Westminster, and within months they referred him to Scotland Yard. Flanked by two security officers, MacShane, wearing a dark suit with a blue striped tie and glasses, said "Cheers" as the sentence was delivered, before adding "Quelle surprise" as he was led from the dock.
Mr Justice Sweeney told MacShane his dishonesty had been "considerable and repeated many times over a long period".
"You have no one to blame but yourself," the judge said, adding that MacShane had shown "a flagrant breach of trust" in "our priceless democratic system".
"The deception used was calculated and designed," he said.
He told MacShane he must serve half his sentence in prison and was ordered to pay costs of £1,500 within two months.
The court heard MacShane incurred "genuine expenses" for similar amounts that he chose to recoup by dishonest false accounting rather than through legitimate claims.
The judge said: "However chaotic your general paperwork was, there was deliberate, oft-repeated and prolonged dishonesty over a period of years – involving a flagrant breach of trust and consequent damage to parliament, with correspondingly reduced confidence in our priceless democratic system and the process by which it is implemented and we are governed."
Sweeney said he had considered a number of mitigating features, including MacShane's guilty plea, and that the offences were "not committed out of greed or for personal profit".
MacShane had suffered "a long period of public humiliation" and carried out the offences "at a time of turmoil" in his personal life, the judge said.
The court heard that MacShane and his wife divorced in 2003, his daughter Clare was killed in an accident in March 2004, his mother died in 2006 and his former partner, newsreader Carol Barnes – Clare's mother – died in 2008.
The judge also considered his previous good character and the fact that the money had
Parliamentary authorities began looking at MacShane's claims in 2009 when the wider scandal engulfed Westminster, and referred him to Scotland Yard within months.
But the principle of parliamentary privilege meant detectives were not given access to damning correspondence with the standards commissioner in which MacShane detailed how signatures on receipts from the European Policy Institute (EPI) had been faked.But the principle of parliamentary privilege meant detectives were not given access to damning correspondence with the standards commissioner in which MacShane detailed how signatures on receipts from the European Policy Institute (EPI) had been faked.
The body was controlled by MacShane and the general manager's signature was not genuine. One missive dated October 2009 told how he drew funds from the EPI so he could serve on a book-judging panel in Paris. The body was controlled by MacShane and the general manager's signature was not genuine. One message, dated October 2009, said he drew funds from the EPI so he could serve on a book judging panel in Paris.
It was not until after police dropped the case last year that the cross-party standards committee published the evidence in a report that recommended an unprecedented 12-month suspension from the Commons. It was not until after police dropped the case last year that the cross-party Standards Committee published the evidence in a report that recommended an unprecedented 12-month suspension from the House.
MacShane, 65, who served as Europe minister under Tony Blair, resigned as MP for Rotherham last November before the punishment could be imposed. Police then reopened their inquiry in the light of the fresh information and he was charged in May, even though the letters are still not thought to be admissible in court. MacShane, 65, who served as Europe minister under Tony Blair, resigned as MP for Rotherham last November before the punishment could be imposed.
Police then reopened their inquiry in the light of the fresh information and he was charged in May – even though the letters are still not thought to be admissible in court.
The offence of false accounting covered 19 "knowingly misleading" receipts that MacShane filed between January 2005 and January 2008.The offence of false accounting covered 19 "knowingly misleading" receipts that MacShane filed between January 2005 and January 2008.
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