Lord Hanningfield appeals against expenses conviction

10 April 2012
WEST END FINAL

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A former Tory peer jailed after being found guilty of fiddling his parliamentary expenses launches a conviction appeal today.

Lord Hanningfield was found guilty of six counts of false accounting following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court in May.

He was jailed for nine months on July 1 at Maidstone Crown Court in Kent.

His challenge will be heard at the Court of Appeal in London by Lord Justice Hughes, Mr Justice Treacy and Mr Justice Blake.

Lord Hanningfield, 70, was accused of falsely claiming nearly £14,000 for overnight stays in London when he was not in the capital.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Saunders said Lord Hanningfield, an ex-Lords opposition frontbencher and leader of Essex County Council, would now be partly remembered as a "benefits cheat".

The court heard that Lord Hanningfield was in ill-health and had been diagnosed with clinical depression.

The former pig farmer from West Hanningfield, near Chelmsford, told jurors he treated the Lords expenses for staying overnight in London as an allowance for living outside the capital and spent just "a minute a month" completing his claim forms.

He insisted his parliamentary duties left him thousands of pounds out of pocket and said he "averaged out" his claims to recoup some of the money he spent.

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