David Chaytor expenses scandal: MP who stole from the taxpayer then tried to dodge justice faces 7 years' jail

David Chaytor pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey in London to three charges of false accounting amounting to more than 18,000. Sentencing was adjourned until 7 January.

One of the charges related to allowance claims for rent he paid to a woman for a house in Bury, Lancashire.

The woman was his mother, who was in a home and suffering from Alzheimer's. She was never paid the money and has subsequently died.

Chaytor, 61, of Todmorden, West Yorkshire, had been MP for Bury North since 1997. He was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party last May.

Chaytor, a former lecturer who is married and has three children, faces up to seven years in jail but his guilty pleas mean the judge can reduce his sentence by a third.

Chaytor had pleaded not guilty to the charges in May, but changed his pleas yesterday. He had been due to stand trial on Monday.

The dramatic change came as legal moves to have the case dismissed came to an unsuccessful end.

He had claimed he should not be prosecuted because of Parliamentary privilege, but this was rejected by the Supreme Court.

Chaytor stood in the dock of Court 11 with his hands crossed and his head tilted as he answered "guilty" to each count.

Chaytor admitted false accounting involving a total of 18,350 which he charged on his expenses.

He claimed 12,925 between November 2005 and September 2006 for renting a flat in Regency Street, near Westminster, which it turned out he owned.

A fake tenancy agreement said he was paying 1,175 a month rent.

He also falsely claimed 5,425 for renting his mother's house at 775 a month between September 2007 and January 2008.

He admitted he was not paying his mother and would not have been allowed to claim for leasing a property from a family member under parliament's expenses rules.

A third charge related to falsely charging 1,950 for IT support services in May 2006. That money was never paid to him.

The charge said that he supplied two invoices from a man named Paul France "when in fact the services had not been provided or charged for".

James Sturman, QC, for Chaytor, told the judge, Mr Justice Saunders: "Obviously he accepts this is a serious matter. There is no loss to the public purse. Any sums claimed have been, or will be, repaid."

Mr Sturman said 13,000 had already been paid.

Chaytor left court without commenting. He was mobbed by photographers as he got into a taxi with his legal team.

Later, Simon Clements, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "David Chaytor has admitted his dishonesty and will now face the consequences of his actions.

"No-one, no matter what their position, should be allowed to take money they are not entitled to.

"By his actions David Chaytor has abused the trust placed in him by the public."

Hundreds of MPs were ordered to repay a total of 1.12 million in the wake of the expenses scandal.

Others due to face separate trials involving their expenses are former Labour MP for Livingston Jim Devine, former Scunthorpe Labour MP Elliot Morley, former Barnsley Central Labour MP Eric Illsley, Conservative peer Lord Hanningfield and Lord Taylor of Warwick, a former Tory peer.

Voters verdicts

David Chaytor's former constituents in Bury gave their own verdict on their ex-MP yesterday - and it was a harsh one.

Brian Birkett, 38, an out-of-work builder, said: "He's gone from being quite well thought of to nothing more than a criminal.

"If you fiddled the taxman, you would be up in court and off to prison, so why shouldn't he go to jail? He must think there is one law for him and another for everyone else.

"I used to vote Labour but didn't at the last election because Chaytor was my MP."

Life-long Labour supporter and former party member Harry Critchley, 58, a retired civil servant who worked with the Inland Revenue, said: "I was disgusted with what he did. He let the party down very badly, and it's mostly been a Labour town."

Maurice Hucknall, 70, a retired engineer, said: "There is a lot of apathy, especially from young people, here about politics and he is partly responsible.

"I couldn't tell you what I really think should happen to him because you couldn't print it."

Norma Kirk, 61, a retired shop worker, said: "He should get sent to prison because that's what would happen to me or you if we had done what he's done."