A former MEP for the South East, Peter Skinner, has been jailed for four years after being investigated following allegations he had falsely claimed some of his £480,000 of expenses while in office. The prosecutor told the court the total lost to the European Parliament was £132,434.02.
The former MEP for the South East, Peter Skinner, has arrived at Southwark Crown Court in London for sentencing after being found guilty of fiddling his expenses. Skinner, from Snodland in Kent, was found guilty of one count of making a false instrument, one count of fraud and one count of false accounting.
The 56-year-old ex Labour Member of the European Parliament admits that public trust in politicians as a whole will have been damaged by his case. It is expected that he will be jailed this morning.
Skinner claimed the maximum staff Parliamentary Assistance Allowance (PAA) between 2004 and 2009 while he was representing the South East of England in the European Parliament. The money - £480,000 - was supposed to be used for staffing costs, but instead some was used to "fund a lavish lifestyle and pay off his wife following their divorce.".
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