TWO House of Lords expenses cheats have sparked fury by walking free after
just a quarter of their jail sentences.
Lord Taylor of Warwick and Lord Hanningfield falsely claimed £11,000 and
£13,000 from public funds.
Last night campaign group the TaxPayers’ Alliance called the two Tories’
release “a further insult to the public”. Its chief Matthew Elliott said:
“Taxpayers will feel justice has not been done.”
Former barrister Lord Taylor, 58, from West London, was jailed for 12
months in May for pretending his main residence was a house in Oxford.
In fact, it belonged to the partner of his half-nephew and he had never stayed
there. His trial judge said he had carried out a “protracted course of
dishonesty”.
Ex pig farmer Lord Hanningfield, 70, from Essex, got nine months’ jail in July
after fiddling allowances for staying over in London. On one of the nights,
he had actually been on a plane to India.
It is understood the two were freed under the home detention curfew (HDC)
scheme, which allows low-risk prisoners to be tagged and released early.
Both look set to stay members of the Lords.
A Prison Service spokesman said: “An HDC is available to prisoners who are
deemed appropriate for early release.”