Benefit Fraud Lancashire: Ex-Mayor McGowan Dodges Jail Sentence

JOHN McGowan is a lucky, if rather unethical, man.

The former Mayor of Clitheroe, Lancashire was found guilty of defrauding the benefits office, but still managed to miss out on a trip to prison, instead earning himself a 36-week jail term, suspended for 12 months.

McGowan had been claiming £13,000 in benefits for a bad back but fraud investigators secretly filmed the dodgy ex-local official playing golf and delivering newspapers with all the gusto of an Olympic gymnast.

In sentencing the mischievous ex-Mayor at Preston Crown Court, Judge Beverley Lunt says: “These offences were a dishonest detraction of taxpayers’ money. There are genuinely ill people in our society who rely on the DWP [Department for Work and Pensions] in order to get through their day-to-day lives. You have diverted money from those worthy people.”

As well as copping a rather cushy suspended sentence, McGowan also was ordered to perform 80 hours of community service. As long as his back holds up, of course.

Anorak

Posted: 5th, July 2007 | In: Money Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink