General jailed for dishonestly claiming thousands to pay for children's school fees

A senior Army officer has been found guilty and jailed for dishonestly claiming £48,000 in allowances to pay for his children's boarding school fees.

Major General Nick Welch applied for the allowance claiming he and his wife would not be living close to the children's schools in Dorset.

But the prosecution claimed his wife spent most of her time at their cottage in Blandford Forum rather than military accommodation in London.

The payment, which covers 90% of fees, is aimed at allowing children of service personnel to remain at the same schools to enable their serving parent to be accompanied by their spouse as they are posted to different locations.

But the prosecution said Mrs Welch, 54, spent most of her time at the cottage in Blandford Forum, Dorset, close to the two schools, rather than at their allocated military accommodation in Putney, south-west London.

CEA rules say a spouse must not be away from the residence at work address for more than 90 days per year.

The investigation was launched in February 2017 after a neighbour alerted authorities about the Welch family's absence from the London home.

Welch had denied being dishonest and said he believed he had complied with the requirements of accompanied service because his wife was living with him for the majority of the time.

The 57-year-old who left the military in 2018 was convicted of fraud by a panel of senior officers following a four-week court martial trial, and sentenced to 21 months in prison.

An MoD spokeswoman said: "If a service person has been reported to the Royal Military Police because it is believed they have committed a crime it is only right that it is investigated fully and the results of the investigation are presented to the Service Prosecuting Authority.

"It has been proven in this case that the retired Major General Nicholas Welch OBE did commit fraud and therefore he will be sentenced accordingly."