A councillor and former Parliamentary candidate has been sentenced to 40 hours of unpaid community work after pleading guilty to two counts of benefit fraud which resulted in overpayments of more than £10,000.
Hanna Toms, Cornwall Councillor for the Falmouth Penwerris Ward, made monetary gain after failing to tell local authorities about an increase in income between 2008 and 2014.
The 40-year-old came clean about a "genuine mistake" two years ago and says that she will not be stepping down from her role as councillor.
She was sentenced at Truro Magistrates' Court.
Cllr Toms was set to stand as Labour's Parliamentary candidate for Truro and Falmouth in 2015 before withdrawing just months before the election.
In a statement, she told the BBC: "I was under the impression that as I had advised Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs of changes in my personal circumstances, this information would be passed on to Cornwall Council. I was wrong.
"I would like to publicly apologise to my family and friends, my constituents, my fellow councillors and to people in Cornwall for letting them down in this way."
The money has since been repaid using a bank loan.
Source
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Toms; genuine mistake and paid the money back.
Turei; deliberate fraud and will pay the money back if required to.
Spot the difference.
'She' angles to me the next Minister of Social Welfare ... a Minister totally bereft of moral authority.
For the good of the Greens and the institution of Parliament she should have resigned at the time she fessed up to her criminality.
Post a Comment