A former UK Member of Parliament for Bury North, David Chaytor, has been handed out an 18 month jail sentence today for making false expenses claims between 2005 and 2007.
Chaytor made claims for rent on properties owned by members of his family, as well as making fraudulent claims for IT consultancy.
The former MP pleaded guilty to three charges of false accounting in December 2010, prior to today’s sentencing.
Two other former MPs, one current MP and one member of the House of Lords in the UK are currently awaiting trial for similar crimes: all of which came to light during the 2009 “expenses scandal”.
In each of those other four cases, the respondent has pleaded ‘not guilty’, though several MPs and former MPs – including Chaytor – had attempted, unsuccessfully, to appeal the cases brought against them by citing Parliamentary Privilege.