Ex-employee wins £17,000 over ‘ lies’ by disgraced MP
A DISGRACED f ormer Labour MP has been ordered to pay nearly £18,000 in damages to an ex-employee after he allegedly claimed she stole money to cover up his own fraudulent activities. The payout comes after a judge rejected Jim Devine’s evidence as ‘ i ncredible’ and awarded in favour of Marion Kinley, whom the ex-MP said took the money because of a serious gambling problem.
Mrs Kinley had sued Devine, exMP for Livingston, West Lothian, after claiming he had defamed her between June and October 2008.
Yesterday, the judge agreed her reputation had been harmed by Devine, jailed three years ago over false accounting offences involving House of Commons expense claims of more than £8,000.
In a written ruling Lord Bannatyne said: ‘These allegations are of a serious nature in that they all ege criminal conduct and impugned the pursuer’s honesty.’
He insisted he was satisfied the woman had suffered significant distress as a result of the allega- tions. The judge said he was satisfied that when Devine, 60, made these statements he knew them not to be true and that they were made maliciously.
‘I accepted her reputation within the political community and wider general community was damaged,’ said Lord Bannatyne.
He disclosed that he formed ‘ a very favourable impression’ of the former researcher as a witness.
However, the judge questioned the evidence given by the former MP and said he found him to be a ‘wholly unsatisfactory witness’.
Lord Bannatyne added that at
‘Caught out in his evidence’
one stage the former MP was questioned over a newspaper report of what was said at his criminal trial and had claimed he did not say what was attributed to him.
But Lord Bannatyne said he could see no reason for Devine being misquoted and added: ‘It is not a matter which he could have forgotten. This was an occasion when the defender was caught out in his evidence and shown to be lying.’
Both Mrs Kinley and Devine rep- resented themselves at a Court of Session hearing earlier this year when she maintained he had made damaging statements about her to ‘cover up his own actions’.
She revealed Devine had claimed she was being investigated by the police and Special Branch.
The court heard he had stated she had helped herself to bonus money she was not entitled to take. She insisted he had said: ‘I had stolen significant sums of money while office manager and the reason I did this was because I had a serious gambling problem.’
Mrs Kinley had raised an action against Devine for £75,000 over false allegations made against her.
Earlier, she took Devine to an employment tribunal and won an award of around £35,000 for constructive dismissal in 2010.
In the civil damages claim Mrs Kinley said the allegations had left her unable to sleep and she was unemployed for six months after her constructive dismissal.
Lord Bannatyne said he would grant a total of £17,816 to her for her pain and suffering.