Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has admitted pleading guilty to an offence connected with misleading the police while a parliamentary candidate in 2014
Haigh appeared at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court six months before the 2015 general election, after making a false report to detectives that her mobile phone had been stolen, reports Sky News.
The MP for Sheffield Heeley said she was “mugged while on a night out” in 2013. She then subsequently reported the incident to the police and gave officers a list of items she believed had been taken, including a work mobile phone.
The transport secretary told Sky News she discovered “some time later” that “the mobile in question had not been taken” adding that “In the interim, I had been issued with another work phone.”
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh admitted pleading guilty to offence in connection with misleading police in 2015
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Chairman of the Conservative Party Nigel Huddleston: “These are extremely concerning revelations about the person responsible for managing £30bn of taxpayers’ money.
“Keir Starmer has serious questions to answer regarding what he knew and when about the person he appointed as Transport Secretary admitting to having misled the police.”
The transport secretary said: “The original work device being switched on triggered police attention and I was asked to come in for questioning. My solicitor advised me not to comment during that interview and I regret following that advice. The police referred the matter to the CPS and I appeared before Southwark magistrates.”
Haigh continued: “Under the advice of my solicitor I pleaded guilty, despite the fact this was a genuine mistake from which I did not make any gain. The magistrates accepted all of these arguments and gave me the lowest possible outcome (a discharge) available.”
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