By Martin Banks - 11th November 2009
It is a great shame that a former member should fall from grace in this way
Tim Kirkhope
A colleague of Tom Wise has said he was "shocked" by the two-year sentence given to the former MEP on Wednesday.
Wise, a former policeman, admitted fiddling over €40,000 expenses and jailed for two years at London's Southwark Crown Court.
The court had heard that Wise, who represented Ukip before turning independent, spent 13 months channelling the money into a bank account he secretly controlled.
The 61-year-old pretended the "secretarial assistance allowance" he received every month was for his 62-year-old researcher Lindsay Jenkins.
However, the court was told he spent most of it funding a love of fine wine, clearing credit card debts, buying a car and funding party political activities.
When his dishonesty was exposed by the Sunday Times newspaper, he did his best to "worm his way out of trouble" by repaying a large slice of the cash, said prosecutor Mark Fenhalls.
Wise - thought to be the first British politician to be jailed for fiddling expenses - could have pocketed over €200,000 had the scam not been exposed.
Wise, who left Ukip after the scandal, originally denied false accounting between October 14 and November 16 2004 but during his trial, and just before Ukip leader Nigel Farage was to give evidence against him, he confessed.
Reaction to the sentence was swift with Mike Nattrass, a Ukip deputy, saying he was "shocked" at the severity of the sentence.
He added, "I have always liked him but, having said that, Tom has been a very silly man.
"It is very sad that he was not honest with the party when these allegations first came to light.
"It is severe though particularly when you consider what some other MEPs are alleged to have done."
Tim Kirkhope, who leads the UK Tory group in parliament, said, "The court has taken a view on his behaviour. It is a great shame that a former member should fall from grace in this way."
Paul Nuttall, a Ukip MEP said, "This whole sorry episode is now over. Justice has been done.We now hope that the crown prosecution service will be emboldened to look more closely at Westminster."
We would like to clarify that Mr Kirkhope is in no way involved with these legal proceedings and apologise to Mr Kirkhope for any embarrassment or confusion this may have caused.
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