Former Labour MP Jim Devine jailed for 16 months over expenses fraud, it is a bitter pill to swallow, he has lost everything, money, career, prospects

Dear All

The verdict is finally in and it is a cracker!

Ex-Labour MP Jim Devine has been jailed for 16 months.

16 months for fraudulently claiming £8,385 in expenses.

Ex Labour MP Jim Devine was found guilty of using false invoices for cleaning and printing work.

This is the third Labour MP who has been jailed for fiddling their expenses.

The judge, Mr Justice Saunders, said he "set about defrauding the public purse in a calculated and deliberate way".

Judge Saunders also said:

"These offences constituted a gross breach of trust which, along with others, had had the effect of causing serious damage to the reputation of Parliament. Mr Devine made his false claims at a time when he well knew the damage that was being caused to Parliament by the expenses scandal but he carried on regardless."

Party politics aside this is no way to leave public office!

During the trial the judge dismissed as false Devine's claim in court that another MP had told him what he did was "accepted practice".

Devine's lawyer said he would probably serve eight months in the pokey but could get out in four with good behaviour.

And he will be coming out to nothing, he has effectively lost everything.

Devine was declared bankrupt last month, following a separate hearing at Livingston Sheriff Court.

So, no money, no job, no career, no prospects and no hope!

And it didn’t have to end this way, if he had played it straight, serving in public office such as an MP would have been very interesting and it pays a decent amount of money.

Another example of a person who had it all and lived to see it destroyed just as quick through sheer stupidity.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University