Today's Gazette: Lord Hanningfield free after nine weeks

8:50am Monday 12th September 2011 in News

Lord Hanningfield taking dog Jefferson for a walk Lord Hanningfield taking dog Jefferson for a walk

TODAY'S GAZETTE:

* Shamed Tory Peer Lord Hanningfield has been released from prison after serving nine weeks of his nine-month sentence for fiddling taxpayers out of £14,000...

* Sheltered housing schemes to be sold under plans unveiled by Colchester Council...

* Tributes to former Lexden Springs Primary School pupil Charlotte Jones who died of a rare brain condition aged 21...

* Jumbo owner tells heritage group he is not prepared to sell the historic water tower...

FOR THESE STORIES AND MORE GET TODAY'S GAZETTE. THERE IS ALWAYS MORE NEWS IN THE PAPER THAN ONLINE

Comments(24)

Feisty CBC says...
9:10am Mon 12 Sep 11

Not bad. Nine weeks for £14k.

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Arthur Fonzarelli says...
9:22am Mon 12 Sep 11

I'm sure his criminal record will not prevent him from obtaining paid employment in the near future.

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wellnow says...
9:54am Mon 12 Sep 11

the spell inside has done wonders for his appearance.the beard suits him to.
see sir all those freeby meals and being driven everywhere,not good for you.

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Say It As It Is OK? says...
10:21am Mon 12 Sep 11

Disgraceful....Nine weeks for a Nine month sentence. Who said crime doesn't pay?

He'll be brazen enough to take up his seat again in the Lords so he can continue to take all the expenses on offer! Maybe though he will now stick to the rules or be more creative in hiding his fraudulent his expenses than he was in the past.

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Ritchie_Hicks says...
11:21am Mon 12 Sep 11

That beard makes him look even shorter than before.

Maybe he's planning on being Santa this year for Debenhams?

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Sdapeze says...
12:13pm Mon 12 Sep 11

It would be nice to think he might get a job and pay back what he defrauded.

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Bing Bong says...
1:09pm Mon 12 Sep 11

Normal, Thief gets away with not doing there full sentence, (looks good) Of course he does Thief gets away with it happy man, scrum if you ask me but that will be wrong.

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nick2480 says...
1:36pm Mon 12 Sep 11

It's a joke

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catflap1 says...
1:50pm Mon 12 Sep 11

Feisty CBC wrote:
Not bad. Nine weeks for £14k.
Yeap equals about £81,000 per year shame the avg wage in Colchester is about £22,000

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Boris says...
4:39pm Mon 12 Sep 11

So the old thief is now 20 years younger, has lost a huge amount of weight, and in only 9 weeks has grown a beard worthy of the Taliban.
Can that really be him in the photo?

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cavillas says...
4:52pm Mon 12 Sep 11

It seems the "old School" are looking after thier own and releasing them quickly now. At least he can no longer work as a local or other politician any more, next revoke his title, he doesn't deserve it.

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DenverKing says...
7:08pm Mon 12 Sep 11

Say It As It Is OK? wrote:
Disgraceful....Nine weeks for a Nine month sentence. Who said crime doesn't pay?

He'll be brazen enough to take up his seat again in the Lords so he can continue to take all the expenses on offer! Maybe though he will now stick to the rules or be more creative in hiding his fraudulent his expenses than he was in the past.
Justice? Must be part of the Fratenal Gang, that meet in their Aprons and have their compasses! If it was you or I being done for fraud wether it was DHSS or Bank Business That would be a long stretch, But not a Peer, nothing has changed from Robin Hoods Day. That is not equal!

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wellnow says...
7:21pm Mon 12 Sep 11

his sentence and time served will act as a deterrent to all those thinking of committing crime.if you get 9weeks for systematicly defrauding the county of £14000 just think what you might get looting tesco of a frozen chicken in a night of mayhem.

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Council Man says...
8:40pm Mon 12 Sep 11

He has done his time as determined by the justice system so everyone should now let him be.
Whether it is right or wrong we can each have our own opinions and mine are that he should have pleaded guity and took his punishment rather than try and justify his unacceptable and lapse expense accounting.

Having said that, 40 years of local government work and dedication should have been recognised and taken into consideration.

This is ever so sad!

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Council Man says...
8:46pm Mon 12 Sep 11

He has done his time as determined by the justice system and it is not for us to decide whether the length of time he has served is right or wrong. Everyone should let him be.

We each have our own opinions and for what it is worth I think he should have pleaded guity and took his punishment like a man rather than try and justify his unacceptable and lapse expense accounting because of his positions as Leader of Essex County Council and his Peerage.

Having said that, 40 years of hard local government work and dedication should have been recognised and be taken into consideration.

Judge this man on both the good and bad things he has done. This is only fair and reasonable. In my opinion!

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Feisty CBC says...
9:51pm Mon 12 Sep 11

Council Man wrote:
He has done his time as determined by the justice system and it is not for us to decide whether the length of time he has served is right or wrong. Everyone should let him be.

We each have our own opinions and for what it is worth I think he should have pleaded guity and took his punishment like a man rather than try and justify his unacceptable and lapse expense accounting because of his positions as Leader of Essex County Council and his Peerage.

Having said that, 40 years of hard local government work and dedication should have been recognised and be taken into consideration.

Judge this man on both the good and bad things he has done. This is only fair and reasonable. In my opinion!
Thieving scumbag would have been more appropriate. He is still, trying to defend the indefensible.

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Council Man says...
10:22pm Mon 12 Sep 11

Feisty CBC wrote:
Council Man wrote:
He has done his time as determined by the justice system and it is not for us to decide whether the length of time he has served is right or wrong. Everyone should let him be.

We each have our own opinions and for what it is worth I think he should have pleaded guity and took his punishment like a man rather than try and justify his unacceptable and lapse expense accounting because of his positions as Leader of Essex County Council and his Peerage.

Having said that, 40 years of hard local government work and dedication should have been recognised and be taken into consideration.

Judge this man on both the good and bad things he has done. This is only fair and reasonable. In my opinion!
Thieving scumbag would have been more appropriate. He is still, trying to defend the indefensible.
How can you defend the indefensible when they have been tried, convicted and sentenced in a court of law?

This is exactly my point, tried, convicted, sentenced and released by the British Judicial System. Our law and courts!

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colcestrian1961 says...
12:07am Tue 13 Sep 11

A lovely man who really cares and I know from personal experience that he does care....He should not have been incarcerated and he should not have been prosecuted it was totally vindictive and not needed+++God bless he who cast the first stone then to all the critics...I would back him anyday...++

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Little Bobby Walker says...
12:58am Tue 13 Sep 11

colcestrian1961 wrote:
A lovely man who really cares and I know from personal experience that he does care....He should not have been incarcerated and he should not have been prosecuted it was totally vindictive and not needed+++God bless he who cast the first stone then to all the critics...I would back him anyday...++
Wow I admire all the love and generosity of spirit and all that but come on!
Yes everybody makes mistakes and we shouldn't be too eager to judge others because we can not see all ends and we are all imperfect. But this man committed a serious breach of trust and it is right that he should know this and be properly punished, for his own sake as well as for public justice.

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No! I am Spartacus says...
7:56am Tue 13 Sep 11

He has served, perhaps, the going rate (I bet most of the riotors will only serve a proportion of their time as well... unfortunately). I'd rather what they are sentenced to closer to what they serve, but things are as they are.

He abused his power, privilege and position, however- when he lost his appeal against his conviction in late July when judges said his case was "unarguable".

That abuse should also lose him his title.

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No! I am Spartacus says...
8:17am Tue 13 Sep 11

Does anyone else look back at what they typed in a rush and wonder when they became completely illiterate? :-)

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jut1972 says...
10:21am Tue 13 Sep 11

Yeha aldi tim

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romantic says...
4:48pm Tue 13 Sep 11

I think the problem is that those in power are often heard saying that prison should re-habilitate, that it's there as an example,so people see the error of their ways etc. The perception is that Hanningfield has not really done any of that. If I defrauded by employer of this much, I would probably get a similar sentence, but there is NO CHANCE that I would be let out after 9 weeks. The principle of a reduced sentence for good behaviour is a good one, it gives an incentive to keep out of trouble inside. I always believed this to be half the sentence. No idea if that is set in stone, but it seems to be the general rule. The problem is that he doesn't seem to think he's done anything wrong. The mesaage this sends out is that different people will get different treatment. Some on here have wanted him hanged, flogged, starved, beaten every day. But prison in itself is a punishment, nothing is achieved by retributive torture. But it would have sent out the right message if he actually did the time.

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Boris says...
10:59pm Tue 13 Sep 11

I don't see that it matters much whether he did the full amount of time. The important thing is that he is a convicted criminal and everyone knows it.
Hundreds (thousands?) of rioters were given "exemplary" sentences and this meant that non-violent criminals such as Lord Bonkers had to be let out extra early, to make room for them. Our prisons are full, so that means most prisoners can only be held for a fraction of the proper time.

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