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Former Conservative peer Lord Taylor of Warwick has been found guilty of falsely claiming more than £11,000 in parliamentary expenses.
A jury at Southwark Crown Court found the peer guilty by a majority of 11 to one this afternoon.
He was accused of fraudluantly making expenses claims by designating his main residence as a property in Oxford, when he in fact lived in west London.
Stephen O’Doherty, reviewing lawyer for CPS Special Crime Division, said: “No-one could sincerely believe that a home in which they had no financial interest, had never lived in and had scarcely visited could count as their main residence, or that it was permissible to claim for driving between Oxford and Parliament when they had not done so.
“Yet Lord Taylor claimed exactly that and landed the taxpayer with a bill of more than £11,000.
He added: “Today, a jury has seen through his dishonesty by finding him guilty of theft by false accounting. He will now face the consequences of his actions.”
Lord Taylor will remain a member of the House of Lords as it is not possible for peers to resign their seats an can only be kicked out by an Act of Parliament.
He was raised to the peerage as Baron Taylor of Warwick, of Warwick in the County of Warwickshire in 1996 but resigned the Conservative Whip July 2010.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
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