Fareham Conservative councillor convicted of benefit fraud

A Conservative Councillor in Hampshire has been forced to resign after being convicted of benefit fraud.

We reported his first appearance before magistrates last month because the national newspapers "forgot" to splash it all over their front pages like they would if UKIP had been involved.

George Ringrow was a Hampshire County Councillor for Fareham and member of the Portsmouth Diocesan Synod. He has resigned as a councillor but it is not clear whether he has resigned from the Synod.

Ringrow claimed £32k of pension credit that he was not entitled to for over 5 and a half years, failing to notify the DWP that he had found employment at St Johns Ambulance and as a county councillor. He said that he hadn't noticed the money going into his bank account but also claimed to have phoned and written to the DWP to tell them that he had found a job and shouldn't be getting pension credit.

Unsurprisingly the judge was less than convinced and sentenced him to 4 months in prison suspended for 12 months.

Fareham Conservative councillor charged with benefit fraud

A Conservative councillor in Fareham has been charged with benefit fraud.

Hampshire county councillor, George Ringrow, has appeared before magistrates to answer two charges of benefit fraud amounting to £32k.

Cllr Ringrow is county councillor for Fareham Town on Hampshire County Council, sits on a number of committees including (ironically) the council's audit committee and sits on the Portsmouth Diocesan Synod.

Benefit fraud Staffordshire Labour councillor resigns from Labour Party

A benefit fraudster Labour councillor in Stafford has resigned from his party, ostensibly because of the Stafford hospital scandal and not the benefits fraud.

Cllr Ian Hollinshead, who sits on Staffordshire County Council and Stafford Borough Council, failed to declare a change in his circumstances and was overpaid £8k in benefits over a 3 year period. He repaid the money he wasn't entitled to and avoided prosecution.

Hollinshead says that he and his wife have resigned from the Labour Party so they can support efforts to save Stafford hospital from closure and that the publicity around his benefit fraud has nothing to do with the decision.

Berkshire Conservative benefit fraud councillor refuses to resign

A Conservative councillor in Berkshire who escaped being sentenced to community service for benefit fraud because it would interfere with his job as a postman and then left his job as a postman after getting the conditional discharge is refusing to stand down despite a full council motion for him to do so.

The aptly named Cllr Peter Lawless defrauded the taxpayer by claiming housing benefit that he wasn't entitled to because of his £19,590 councillor's allowances. He was convicted of the fraud at Slough Magistrates Court but avoided having to do community service because it would interfere with his Royal Mail job. He then promptly left his job at the Royal Mail.

Councillors approved a motion calling on Cllr Lawless to resign for failing to live up to the standards expected of a councillor and bringing the council into disrepute. Cllr Lawless refuses to stand down.

Labour councillor's benefit fraud trial postponed

A controversial single mother of 10 elected as a Labour councillor has had her trial for benefits fraud postponed again to October - two years after the investigations into her began.

Cllr Claire Baldwin courted controversy when she was elected in Tilbury when she was found to owe thousands of pounds in council tax and council housing benefit and to have been convicted of failing to ensure two of her children attended school. When her council laptop went missing there were calls for her to resign but she refused.

The hearing has been adjourned until October after the judge described the case as a "shambolic state of affairs".

Lib Dem benefit cheat councillor blocked from council committees

A Lib Dem councillor in Tiverton has been blocked from membership of any council committees by his fellow councillors after being convicted of benefit fraud.

Cllr Kevin Wilson had applied to be a member of Tiverton Town Council's Finance & General Purposes and Planning Committees but councillors voted to block his membership of any committees because they don't want to be seen to be endorsing a convicted criminal.

Wilson was given a suspended prison sentence earlier this year for committing benefit fraud of £3,800 which he used to subsidise his daughter's public school fees. He apologised but refused to resign as a councillor.

Warrant issued for Conservative ex-councillor

Bournemouth Magistrates Court have issued a warrant for the arrest of a former Conservative councillor who is being pursued by the DWP for alleged benefit fraud.

As a councillor she was earning £9,290 in basic allowances and an extra £1,764 in special responsibility allowances for being on the licensing committee but the DWP say she was claiming benefits that she wasn't entitled to at the same time.

Anniina Davie resigned her seat last February and is believed to have returned to her native Finland. Theresa May is no doubt drafting an EU Arrest Warrant right now to bring this fugitive Tory to justice.