Former independent MEP Ashley Mote jailed for fraud

Former independent MEP, Ashley Mote, has been jailed for 5 years for fraud.

Ashley Mote was a UKIP candidate in the 2004 EU elections but was expelled from the party when he confessed to being investigated for benefit fraud and took his seat as an independent MEP.

Mote fraudulently claimed almost half a million in expenses from the EU, £100k of which was to fund his legal expenses for his benefit fraud conviction.

Despite what some of the papers are saying, Ashley Mote has never been a UKIP MEP. He was expelled from the party before he took his seat and sat as an independent from his first day as an MEP.