KENT NEWS: Britain’s first female Muslim peer has escaped criminal charges despite allegedly claiming £100,000 in allowances for her flat in Maidstone.
Baroness Uddin was told today by the Crown Prosecution Service(CPS) there is “insufficient evidence” to pursue legal action against her.
It was alleged the Labour peer had claimed about £30,000 per year for the two-bedroom flat in overnight subsistence allowance available to peers who live outside the capital and need somewhere to stay when they attend Parliament.
CPS bosses said a rule which allow peers to visit their “main home” once a month would have proved “a real difficulty” for Scotland Yard to prove in a legal case.
In a statement, Keir Starmer, QC, director of public prosecutions, said: “Evidence in this case was obtained from neighbours of Baroness Uddin and from companies supplying utility services, such as water, gas and electricity to the flat in Maidstone.
“But after careful scrutiny of all of the available evidence we have decided that, in applying the definition of 'only or main residence' adopted by the House Committee, there is insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against Baroness Uddin.”
“In any criminal proceedings, it would almost inevitably be necessary for the prosecution to prove, to the criminal standard, that any peer in question had not even visited the address they deemed their 'only or main' residence once a month.
"That presents a very real difficulty and we considered whether it would be open to the Crown Prosecution Service to advance a different definition of 'only or main residence' in any criminal proceedings.
“However, after careful consideration, we concluded that such a course would not be open to us.”
The 50-year-old Bangladeshi, who also rents a property in Wapping, has told national reporters she is “relieved” the case against her has come to an end.
She said: “I only wish to say thank you to everyone who has supported me through this very difficult time and I now wish to turn back to my professional life, my public duties and my family.”
The police investigation into Lady Uddin’s expenses followed an inquiry last year led by Sir Thomas Legg into every MP’s claims.
The Labour peer was one of six MPs and peers expected to face criminal charges of fraud following for abusing the system.
Four of the accused - Labour MPs David Chaytor, Elliot Morley and Jim Devine and the Conservative peer Lord Hanningfield – have all been charged.
POSTED: 12/03/2010 14:21:33
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