'Shock and Anger' As Labour Council Candidate is Convicted of £100,000 Fraud

Labour Parliamentary Candidate for the Gainsborough Constituency, David Prescott (son of former Deputy Prime Minister John (now Lord) Prescott), has taken to twitter to distance himself, and party leader Ed Miliband, from a convicted fraudsters' standing as a Labour Council Candidate.

Above: David Prescott (Labour Parliamentary Candidate

for Gainsborough), Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband and

Ms Charmaine Bowers, Labour Party Candidate for the

Gainsborough North Ward

Mr. Prescott tweeted:

"I'm shocked & angry one of our council candidates has pleaded guilty to fraud. She has been suspended by the party."

The Grimsby Telegraph reported yesterday that Labour District Council Candidate Ms Charmaine Bowers, of Laceby Road, Grimsby and her mother Mrs. Tina Bowers, both pleaded guilty at Plymouth Crown Court to six counts of fraud by false representation and has been jailed for a festival ticket fraud involving more than £100,000.

Prosecutor Andrew Maitland said the pair, who came from Tavistock but now lived in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, were involved in the "sophisticated" fraud between December 2012 and July 2013.

He said Charmaine had falsely claimed on a Facebook page she modelled for Nuts magazine and had access to promotional tickets. He said she had also claimed to earn £8,000 per month modelling for Dior and MAC cosmetics. He said:

"This was a carefully constructed fraud" and the former Face of Plymouth contestant "presented herself in this glamorous life".

Mr Maitland said records seized by detectives found there were "at least 311" people who paid up-front for a unique entrance wristband and confirmation slip.

1,000 ways for Brown’s state inspectors to enter homes across Lincolnshire

Giles McNeill expresses concern at unchecked state powers of intrusion

Giles McNeill, Nettleham Parish Councillor, expressed grave concern this week at the news that Government and town hall inspectors now have over 1,000 powers which allow inspectors to enter people’s homes and premises. Despite Gordon Brown’s pledge last year to cut back these powers, a further 16 new laws are being pushed through Parliament which entrench or extend powers of entry.

The Govenrment has recently published a full list of the state powers of entry that are now in force. There are now a total of 1,043 state powers of entry, and some 430 new powers of entry have been created by Labour.

A survey of state powers to enter people’s homes by the independent think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies, last year suggested that there were just 266 powers of entry. It warned that due to the “proliferation and variety of entry powers” householders cannot now “realistically be aware” of their rights and legal obligations.

The powers of inspection and entry include:
• Invading your home to see if your pot plants have plant pests or to check whether it has a so-called ‘plant passport’ (Plant Health England Order 2005).
• Inspecting a property to see whther performing animals, such as dancing bears, are being trained or exhibited without a permit (Performing Animals Regulation Act 1925).
• Surveying your home and garden to see if your hedge is too high (Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003).
• Inspecting a property to ensure illegal or unregulated hypnotism is not taking place (Hypnotism Act 1952).
• Checking that accommodation being given to asylum seekers is not being occupied by people who are not asylum seekers (Immigration and Asylum Act 1999).
• Carrying out inspections for the presence of rabbits (Pests Act 1954).
• Raiding a house to check if unlicensed gambling is taking place (Gambling Act 2005 Inspection Provision of Information Regulations 2007).
• Checking and seizing fridges which do not have the correct energy rating (Energy Information Household Refrigerators and Freezers Regulations 2004).
• Allowing state-sponsored bailiffs to enter your home and seize goods, using reasonable force if necessary (Tribunal Courts and Enforcement Act 2007)

In a speech last October, Gordon Brown pledged to curtail such laws with a new ‘liberty test’. He pledged that any change to entry powers would be accompanied by new guidance on their use and on the rights of members of the public to stop their abuse. But 16 new laws are now before Parliament which extending the powers - without any such guidance.

Conservatives are also warning that yet more intrusion is being actively planned by Labour. A cadre of council tax inspectors are being trained and an Orwellian computer database is being created for a council tax revaluation in England. Householders will be fined £500 for obstructing these inspectors.

Giles McNeill said:

“Day by day under Labour, the rights and liberties of law-abiding citizens across (area) are being eroded. Their plans for ID Cards and 42 days detention are examples. There has been a huge surge in powers of entry under Labour, entrenching and extending the surveillance state.

“We need measures to tackle genuine crime and terrorism. But the abuse of surveillance powers by town halls in some parts of the country shows the real danger of ‘function creep’ by state bureaucrats. Conservatives will cut back these unnecessary powers of the state to enter homes, starting off with abolishing council tax inspectors’ rights of entry and reining back in the nosey parker state.”

New figures expose Government failure on knife crime – Giles McNeill

Action needed to tackle worrying rise of young people carrying and using knives

Giles McNeill, Nettleham Parish Councillor, expressed deep concern today about new local knife crime statistics published by the Government, and called for action to tackle the growing menace.

The official figures published by the Home Office show that across Lincolnshire, there were 71 serious offences last year involving knives.18% of all wounding, grevious bodily harm or robberies were committed with a knife in Lincolnshire. Nationally, the figure is 19%.


Conservatives are calling for a series of urgent measures to reduce knife crime, which include:

· Anyone convicted of carrying a knife should expect to receive a custodial sentence. Currently, the Government is planning to allow offenders carrying a knife to be let off with a fine in some circumstances.

· Making it easier for police officers to stop suspects and search them for knifes and other weapons, and increasing use of mobile knife scanners on the streets and on public transport (as already being successful trialled in London by Boris Johnson).

· Providing more custodial places for young offenders, and increasing support for drugs and education programmes, and tackling the causes of knife crime such as family breakdown, lack of school discipline and welfare dependency.

Giles McNeill commented:

“I am very concerned about these new figures showing the the menance of knife crime on our streets. This is a shocking indictment of Labour’s failure to tackle crime and its causes.

“Our police have been tied up in so much red tape that they can only spend 14 per cent of their time on the beat fighting crime. At the same time our unprotected borders have allowed too many weapons and hard drugs to flow into our country. Labour have also failed to address family breakdown which sets too many young people on a path of crime.

“Conservatives would start tackling this crime crisis by freeing our police from red tape and targets so they can be deployed on our streets to catch and deter criminals. We need stronger deterrent sentences such as a presumption of prison for those convicted of knife crime. And we will address the fundamental causes of crime like drugs and family breakdown.”

Growing concern over spread of under-age binge drinking across Lincolnshire

New figures show children at harm, with drink fuelling yob behaviour

Giles McNeill, Nettleham Parish Councillor, today expressed his concern about official figures which have revealed not only a growing number of under-age drinkers are being admitted to hospital, but also that the laws against under-age drinking are not being properly enforced.


This disturbing news coincides with the report from Crime Concern which has found that “drinking to get drunk is starting younger with serious consequences to health and crime”. Almost four in ten young people now start drinking at the age of 13, and half of their parents turning a blind eye.

· Figures – unearthed by the Conservatives in Parliament – reveal that under-age children who break the law by buying alcohol illegally are not being held to account. Fewer than a hundred individuals a year are punished for trying to buy alcohol illegally.

· What is more, a growing number of children are now being hospitalised after being admitted to A&E due to alcohol misuse, with 518 incidents across the East Midlands Stategic Health Authority last year. Across the country a whole, there has been an increase of 40 per cent since 2000.

Giles McNeill said:

“Under-age drinking harms young people and fuels youth crime and anti-social behaviour. Labour Ministers talk endlessly about cracking down on alcohol-related violence, but these new figures expose the Government’s complacency.

“There are already laws and sanctions in place. The Government’s failure to enforce the law sends totally the wrong message about under-age drinking and is adding to public concern about yob behaviour and crime. We also need greater social responsibility, and an end to some parents turning a blind eye to their children’s drinking. Increasing social responsibility is at the heart of David Cameron’s plans to make Britain safer and stonger.”

Labour giving criminals a break – as they walk free from local jails

Worrying new figures expose scandal of convicted criminals being let out early

New analysis of Government statistics revealed this week that 1,340 criminals have been let out of prison before finishing their sentences across the East Midlands Region since June, under Labour’s controversial new early release scheme. In HMP Lincoln, Greetwell Road, Lincoln, 36 criminals have been let out onto the streets.

Across the country, 11,000 criminals have already walked out of prison early under the ‘end of custody licence’ system, with an estimated 25,500 criminals to be let out over a full year. They include violent offenders and foreign nationals convicted of serious offences. The scheme was introduced because a shortage in prison places, thanks to a funding crisis caused by Gordon Brown.

Labour Ministers are now planning a new sentencing quango, which would, for the first time, link sentences to prison capacity, so that when jails are full, criminals could receive shorter sentences or not be sent to prison at all.

Giles McNeill said:

“By definition, being sent to prison means someone has committed a serious offence. Yet Labour is giving criminals a break, by letting them loose on to our streets."

“Serious crimes should be punished by a prison sentence, not least to protect the public. It is no wonder that violent crime has doubled under this Government when Gordon Brown is giving the culprits a ‘get out of jail’ card this Christmas. This is fundamentally wrong. Sentences should fit the crime, not this week’s prison capacity.”

Conservatives are calling for:

· An immediate halt to the early release scheme, and the introduction of an emergency prison places programme using the savings from scrapping the flawed Identity Card scheme.

· Doubling the sentencing powers of magistrates to 12 months and repealing any new restrictions on their ability to hand down suspended sentences.

· Honesty in sentencing so that convicted criminals serve the minimum sentence handed down to them by the courts.

· Sufficient prison capacity to hold all those sentenced by the courts – and reforming prison regimes to break the cycle of re-offending.