Cleared former MEP slams ‘vanity case’ police investigation
THE former UKIP Euro MP cleared of fiddling £3,250 of European parliamentary expenses has branded the police investigation against her “a vanity case”.
Nikki Sinclaire, unanimously cleared by a jury of misconduct in a public office and laundering money, said it was “the only just verdict, due to the facts presented to the court”.
The Shirley politician criticised West Midlands Police’s handling of the criminal inquiry, saying that the ten incorrect claims upon which the Crown’s case rested were now “seven years old”, dating back to October 2009.
Throughout her two-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, Ms Sinclaire had admitted personal negligence in not checking claims made to July 2010, but alleged her expenses had been “deliberately corrupted” by her former office aide, John Ison.
Speaking outside court, Ms Sinclaire said: “In times of police cutbacks I find it incredible that on the say-so of one embittered man, West Midlands Police spent, I believe, in the region of £1.5 million chasing a vanity case of £3,200.”
The force defended its handling of a “diligent and professional” investigation, but declined to say how much the inquiry cost, adding it would need to be made subject to a Freedom of Information request.
Mr Ison, who gave evidence for the prosecution, admitted in court sending a message to a party colleague about the 47-year-old, which read: “OK, Plan B – fraud.”
The jury was told that at the time there was an atmosphere of “hostility” between Ms Sinclaire and Nigel Farage, with Mr Ison accepting having passed information about her to the senior party figure.
There was no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Mr Farage or other senior party figures.
Under cross-examination from Ms Sinclaire’s barrister Sean Hammond, Mr Ison accepted being a “spy or a mole” in her office.
He also accepted making 30 to 40 hours of covert audio recordings of Ms Sinclaire, and sending a message claiming he had hacked her laptop.
Supt Maria Fox, of West Midlands Police, said: “This long, complex inquiry has been investigated in a diligent and professional manner. It resulted in extensive evidence being presented to the Crown Prosecution Service which they accepted as significant enough to charge Nikki Sinclaire.”