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False expenses claim Tory MP Chris Davies fined £1,500 False expenses claim Tory MP Chris Davies fined £1,500
(32 minutes later)
An MP convicted of a false expenses claim has been ordered to complete 50 hours unpaid work and fined £1,500.An MP convicted of a false expenses claim has been ordered to complete 50 hours unpaid work and fined £1,500.
Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire Chris Davies pleaded guilty to two charges - admitting providing false or misleading information for allowances claims, and attempting to do so - last month.Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire Chris Davies pleaded guilty to two charges - admitting providing false or misleading information for allowances claims, and attempting to do so - last month.
Davies faces a petition that could see him lose his seat. Davies made an "unreserved apology" following his sentencing at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday.
He was sentenced to a community order at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday. He now faces a recall petition.
Davies was sentenced to a community order of 50 hours unpaid work, to be completed in the next 12 months, fined £1,500 and ordered to pay costs. Mr Justice Edis sentenced Davies to a community order, to be completed in the next 12 months, and ordered him to pay £2,500 costs.
Defence barrister Tom Forster QC said it is likely Mr Davies' career is in "tatters"
Labour and the Liberal Democrats called for Davies to resign following his conviction.Labour and the Liberal Democrats called for Davies to resign following his conviction.
The MP for Brecon and Radnorshire has "shown remorse", Southwark Crown Court was told, and made an "unreserved and sincere apology" for his actions.
The court heard how the charges related to when he was setting up his constituency office following the 2015 general election.The court heard how the charges related to when he was setting up his constituency office following the 2015 general election.
He admitted that in March 2016 he made a claim under the MPs' allowances scheme and provided an invoice that he knew to be "false or misleading". In 2016 Davies tried to split a genuine cost of £700 for photographs for his office between two budgets by faking two separate invoices.
The second charge was attempting to provide false or misleading information for an allowance claim using an invoice "that he knew to be false or misleading" in April 2016. The court heard only one of them, for £450, was reimbursed, from a Start Up budget that only had around £480 remaining in it - a pot of money that was not due to roll over and otherwise may have been lost.
Tom Forster QC, for the defence, said there is a "likelihood that his political career is in tatters" and that Mr Davies is the "author of his own misfortune". The 51-year-old would have been allowed to claim the whole amount from a separate budget for office costs.
The prosecution at Southwark Crown Court said this was not like the "bad old days" when MP used to visit John Lewis to "maximise" their expenses. Another invoice for the remaining £250 to be claimed from that budget was not submitted, the court heard, after his office manager noticed the discrepancy.
Davies made a "disastrous decision", the court was told. Prosecutor Philip Stott said the MP for Brecon and Radnorshire has "shown remorse" and made an "unreserved and sincere apology" for his actions.
The defence said the MP did not intend to make "personal gain" or act in a "dishonest way" The prosecution did not allege that he was seeking falsely to profit from the invoices but said the forged documents "involved some sophistication and took effort to create" and that there was "also the matter of breach of public trust'.
'Career in tatters'
His defence barrister, Mr Forster, said that he was "new to the system" and had since paid back any money given to him.
He said there is a "likelihood that his political career is in tatters" and that Mr Davies is the "author of his own misfortune".
Davies's defence said the MP did not intend to make "personal gain" or act in a "dishonest way".
In sentencing, Mr Justice Edis said the MP's actions were "highly discreditable", and it "remains shocking that when confronted with a simple accounting problem you thought the simplest thing to do was to forge documents".
However the judge went on to say there was a "degree of sympathy" for what had happened and said the case was "quite a different category from the expenses scandals from ten years ago".
The office for the Commons' Speaker John Bercow is expected to ask officials to open a recall petition now Mr Davies has been sentenced.
A by-election will be held if 10% of the MP's constituents sign it.
The figure needed to trigger a by-election is yet to be confirmed but it is thought around 5,300 names would be required.
Following the sentencing, the Welsh Liberal Democrats said: "Chris Davies has put Brecon and Radnorshire on the map for all the wrong reasons.
"Instead of plunging local people into yet more uncertainty with a six week recall process, Chris Davies should resign immediately and give Brecon & Radnorshire the chance to elect a new voice to represent them in Parliament."