Lord Taylor of Warwick jailed for fiddling expenses

A former Warwickshire peer has been sentenced to 12 months in prison for wrongly claiming over £11,000 in expenses.



Lord Taylor of Warwick had argued the six claims he had submitted which totalled £11,277,80 were made in good faith.

He acknowledged that he had contravened the expenses rules, but argued that he had done so because it was a common practice amongst peers to claim items “in lieu of a salary.”

Despite living in Ealing, west London, the 58-year old nominated a property in Oxford as his main residence which is where his half nephew lives.

In fact the peer had never stayed overnight there and had only ever visited the property twice.

Despite that, he submitted six claims between March 2006 and October 2007 for overnight stays in Oxford and mileage to and from property.

Lord Taylor, who was once a barrister himself, was the first black peer in the Lords and has held many different media and charity roles in recent years.

He was the first parliamentarian to be tried and found guilty over the expenses scandal.