Ex-MP jailed for fiddling expenses

jezko

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20110107/tuk-ex-mp-jailed-for-fiddling-expenses-dba1618.html

Has Callely Gotten off lightly?

hondasam

Hopefully Our lot will get the same treatment sooner rather than later.

snubbleste

What about John O'Donoghue?

hondasam

Read the book Snouts in the Trough to see who the biggest user of the system are. John o donoghue will top the list with others.

RoundyMooney

From here. (Quoted below for mobile users).

I put this here to allow a freer exchange of views.

So, my question is this; How is it that this grubby little grabber can face the rigours of the law, and our own home grown fiddlers get off scot free?

Some examples of those who have faced expenses/payment controversy, and in one or two cases, outright allegations of fraud, Callelly, O Donoghue, Harney, Healy Rae, Haughey, Burke, Ahern, Gormley, Olwyn Enright/Joe McHugh, etc.

Why have these people not been forced to account for themselves, and for that matter, why are all TDs and senators allowed to claim for unvouched expenses under a certain threshold?

Given that three of the highest six claimants in the Seanad last year were FG people, one or two of which are mooted for cabinet positions next time if they get in, I think it's a fair comment that we're in for more of the same. (I posted this question to Enda Kenny on Facebook, but he unsurprisingly didn't provide an answer).

Geldof was right back in 1980 when he referred to us as a Banana Republic.

Disgraced former MP David Chaytor was today jailed for 18 months for making false Parliamentary expenses claims.

Chaytor, 61, was locked up after pleading guilty to three counts of false accounting.

Mitigating, James Sturman QC had earlier begged for him to be spared a prison sentence, claiming his client was a 'broken man'.

Southwark Crown Court heard he submitted bogus invoices to support claims totalling £22,650 for IT consultancy work and renting homes in London and his Bury North constituency.

But the properties were owned by him and his mother, and he did not pay out any of his own money.

It is understood Chaytor will be taken to Wandsworth Prison in South-West London.

Mark Leech, editor of Converse, the national newspaper for prisoners, said the former MP should expect 'to find himself in a prison reception that is cramped, cold and busy - with up to 200 prisoners being processed each day'.

'Like all others who come with him he will be strip-searched, photographed, fingerprinted, showered, placed on a Bodily Orifice Scanner to ensure he is not concealing contraband, before being issued with prison clothing and a prison number and then left to consider his future in a reception cubicle holding around 20 others,' he said.

Prisoners normally serve half their sentence before they are considered for parole. In Chaytor's case this means he could be out in nine months, providing he has a record of good behaviour while inside.

On release he would then have to report regularly to his probation officer for the remainder of his sentence.

Chaytor, of Todmorden, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty last month to three counts of false accounting between November 2005 and January 2008.

The case heaps yet more embarrassment on politicians whose public standing has plummeted ever since details of their lavish expense claims emerged 18 months ago.

Other fraud trials are expected to go ahead in the coming months, with two other former MPs, one current MP and two peers facing criminal charges. All have pleaded not guilty.

And the Mail can reveal that Scotland Yard has not ruled out charging more politicians with fraud.

It emerged in court today that Chaytor is facing a large bill for both his defence and the costs of bringing the prosecution against him.

jezko

snubbleste wrote: »

What about John O'Donoghue?

Question Is... Why Can't our Lot be Jailed for Fraud!! Investigate them, Charge them and Sentence them.

Biggins

jezko wrote: »

Question Is... Why Can't our Lot be Jailed for Fraud!! Investigate them, Charge them and Sentence them.

See the following for possible answers: http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056138984

policarp

Chaytor, a very appropriate name for someone caught cheating.

Ruu_Old

The money was just resting in my account, shouted Mr. Chaytor.

AnonoBoy

I smell a musical in the works:

Expenses Fiddler On The Roof.

Badgermonkey

Anyone else giddy at the thought of voting this year?

I aim to clear more dead wood than an illegal Amazonian logging operation.

Capt'n Midnight

He is doing 18 months for amounts so small that our representatives have problems remembering which payment it was.

Bottom line is that people die when you cut the health budget, our politicians, regulators, bankers and developers have blood on their hands. But if you don't have a conscience it's not a problem is it.


Apart from protests, how much time have our representatives spent in prison for crimes they have been convicted for ( I'm not including time given to people to get them to reconsider because at that point they should have been convicted of contempt and told that time for that would not be concurrent with any other sentence, and then given another opportunity )

markesmith

Wonder could we get some of our lot extradited to the UK?

Biggins

markesmith wrote: »

Wonder could we get some of our lot extradited to the UK?

Getting them into any court would be a start!

RoundyMooney

Very little, truth be told.

If an example was made of the present crop, and the system overhauled to ensure accountability, I think that the gombeen's minds would be focused very quickly.

Surely the gardai have a role to play here, or do they judge themselves by column inches and political pressure?

baldbear

It's times like this i wish Ireland was apart of the UK and maybe some justice would be served on our corrupt politicians.

RoundyMooney

The funny thing is, a lot of UK people think that they're not doing enough to tackle corruption either, but everything is relative.

It's a national disgrace tbh.

TheZohanS

Ah sure in Ireland it's "he's a grand fella, didn't he get me planning permission". The whole Irish political system is corrupt, they get in and get out with their cushy pensions and regardless of how many brown envelopes they take under the table or how many laws they break they'll never do time. You have Bertie, CJ, Wild Willie, the lot of them, corrupt to the core and they get away with blue murder by claiming they can't remember.

Latchy

Lots of ordinary Brits glad to see the course of justice put him in jail and many feel he got of lightly , he's done the crime and now doing the time .His one saving grace is that he may off some use to the lags who may be looking for some help with academic studies or advice on legal matters .

Actauly first thing I thought off on hearing this news was how many Irish politicians who have abused their positions of power , have got away with not so much as a rap on the knuckles .

stevejr

Don't think we'd have enough room in the prison systems for our politians*



















*crooks

RoundyMooney

We'd have all the more room, if we stopped throwing people in jail for a few days when they can't or won't subsidise Tubridy the FF stick insect and his overpaid pals.

marcsignal

RoundyMooney wrote: »

Geldof was right back in 1980 when he referred to us as a Banana Republic.

Too right op, the song has more relevance now, than when it was written.

However, I try to be optomistic, since we have a history of copying things from the brits, let's hope we follow suit with this development. I also fail to understand why CAB aren't going after Bertie, and the remaining Haugheys, considering their wealth was attained through the proceeds of crime.

If it's good enough for Gilligan, it's certainly good enough for them, and all of the other crooks you mention op.

Quandary

snubbleste wrote: »

What about John O'Donoghue?

Christ that fcuker boils my blood :mad:

His sense of entitlement was so powerful that he genuinely believed he did nothing wrong. What a nasty self serving piece of FF scum.

This is the part i dont get though...

He was forced to step down as CC, but only to be shifted to the back benches!!

His priorities are:
1 - JOD
2 - FF Buddies
3 - the people of South Kerry
4 - The rest of the country

The loyal local parish in Kerry will keep this cockroach in the gravy though.

Read this quote is from own website -

"I firmly believe that no man can hope to be truly representative of his electorate unless there is a very strong level of communication between him and them. As you my constituents are aware, I have always been, and will continue to be, available to you. This website will present you with yet another point of contact. I intend it to act as a portal to developments and issues concerning you, the people of Kerry South."

kincsem

TheZohan wrote: »

Ah sure in Ireland it's "he's a grand fella, didn't he get me planning permission". The whole Irish political system is corrupt, they get in and get out with their cushy pensions and regardless of how many brown envelopes they take under the table or how many laws they break they'll never do time. You have Bertie, CJ, Wild Willie, the lot of them, corrupt to the core and they get away with blue murder by claiming they can't remember.

But can remember enough to write a biography.

RoundyMooney

Reynolds was the same, not compus mentis enough to testify at tribunal, but still with enough marbles to sit on the Council of State, and give speeches at FF functions.

I really think that the biggest problem we have in this country is apathy. We're not knuckle dragging savages, well most of us aren't, we generally apply high standards to ourselves and maintain a good work ethic (no sniggering at the back-compare us to many other tin pot countries), so why do we put up with this sh1t, and encourage it through the ballot box?

Apathy and ignorance, most people are exposed to the shenanigans of our gombeen political class, and moan about it privately, but it's then promptly forgotten until the next scandal comes along. And the cycle starts again.