'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.

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.