LONDON, April 1 (UPI) -- A Labor politician became the third member of the British Parliament to be sent to prison for expenses fraud Thursday, receiving a 16-month sentence.
A judge at the Old Bailey in London told Jim Devine he knew "just how wrong it was" when he submitted false invoices for almost $15,000 in expenses he was not entitled to, The Guardian reported.
Devine, a former psychiatric nurse and Scottish trade union official, succeeded Robin Cook, one of Scotland's most prominent left-wing politicians, when Cook died unexpectedly in 2005. Devine had been Cook's election agent in Livingston for 22 years.
He was the first former MP to be convicted in a trial. David Chaytor was sentenced to 18 months and Eric Illsley to a year after pleading guilty
John Taylor, Lord Taylor of Warwick, a Conservative peer, is awaiting sentencing after becoming the first member of the House of Lords convicted in the expenses scandal.
Gavin Millar, Devine's lawyer, suggested there were mitigating circumstances. Millar said his client is not a "self-interested or attention-seeking career politician."
