MPs’ expenses: David Chaytor admits fraud

Ex-MP David Chaytor, 61, pleaded guilty to fraudulently claiming Parliamentary expenses at the Old Bailey today.

Chaytor admitted false accounting involving a total of £18,350 which he charged on his expenses while serving as an MP for Bury North – a seat he had held since 1997.

When the expenses scandal broke last year Chaytor apologised “unreservedly” for what he called an “unforgivable error in my accounting procedures.

He referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Privilege rejected

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court published its reasons for rejecting a claim by Chaytor and two other former MPs that criminal proceedings against them would infringe parliamentary privilege.

Hundreds of MPs were ordered to repay a total of £1.12 million after the details of their expenses were revealed last year.

Chaytor was charged in February this year. He faces a maximum of seven years jail, but is expected to receive a more lenient sentence because of his guilty plea. He will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on 7 January.

Three other former MPs and two members of the House of Lords were also charged by police in relation to their expenses and are due to face trial later. They all deny the charges.

Housing expenses

As an MP Chaytor claimed £12,925 between 2005 and 2006 for renting a flat in Regency Street, near Westminster, to which it turned out he owned the lease.

He produced a tenancy agreement falsely showing he was paying £1,175 a month rent.

He also falsely claimed between 2007 and 2008 £5,425 for renting a home in Castle Street, Bury, which was owned by his mother. He had produced a false tenancy agreement showing he was paying £775 a month.

The charge said that he was not paying his mother and would not have been allowed to claim for leasing a property from a family member.

A third charge related to falsely charging £1,950 for IT support services in May 2006. That money was never paid to him.

The charge said that he supplied two invoices from a man named Paul France for his professional services “when in fact the services had not been provided or charged for”.

Chaytor, who left the courtroom without commenting, was granted unconditional bail.