Ex-hack shamed over scam by Simon Armstrong, The Evening Chronicle, May 20th 2004.
A former Tyne Tees TV manager claims he has been left penniless after admitting swindling thousands of pounds in a benefits scam.
Clive Page, 60, dishonestly claimed more than £5,000 in housing benefit and council tax for a flat on Newcastle Quayside which he didn't live in.
Despite having moved out of the property at the Watergate Buildings and sub-letting it to another tenant, the 60-year-old claimed the cash between July 2002 and July 2003.
Magistrates at Gosforth gave him an 80 hour community punishment order after his solicitor claimed he was a ruined man with barely a penny to his name.
Defending, Ruth Foster said: "He has been a highly-respected man. His one foray into the world of crime has led to his ruin."
Page moved to Tyne Tees in 1978 and ran their news and sport from 1982 after starting his career at the Chronicle. He was sacked from Tyne Tees in 1988 as part of a departmental re-shuffle.
Page, who is living at his partner's home in Sandhoe, Hexham, had previously pleaded guilty to making two false representations in order to claim £3,543 housing benefit and £1,943 council tax benefit. He also admitted providing a false statement which claimed he was living at the Quayside flat.
Prosecuting, Kerry Walker outlined the case against him: "Between July 2002 and 2003, he told the local authority he was living at the Watergate Building.
"However, on those dates he was sub-letting that property for £500 per month. In effect, he was claiming housing and council tax benefit for a property he was not living in."
End of article.
Questions:
Did Nigel Farage know that Page had a criminal record when he was offered employment with UKIP?
Did the NEC know. Where they ever informed?
Why does the leadership condemn Ashley Mote for benefit fraud when they are seemingly prepared to ignore Page's conviction?
A former Tyne Tees TV manager claims he has been left penniless after admitting swindling thousands of pounds in a benefits scam.
Clive Page, 60, dishonestly claimed more than £5,000 in housing benefit and council tax for a flat on Newcastle Quayside which he didn't live in.
Despite having moved out of the property at the Watergate Buildings and sub-letting it to another tenant, the 60-year-old claimed the cash between July 2002 and July 2003.
Magistrates at Gosforth gave him an 80 hour community punishment order after his solicitor claimed he was a ruined man with barely a penny to his name.
Defending, Ruth Foster said: "He has been a highly-respected man. His one foray into the world of crime has led to his ruin."
Page moved to Tyne Tees in 1978 and ran their news and sport from 1982 after starting his career at the Chronicle. He was sacked from Tyne Tees in 1988 as part of a departmental re-shuffle.
Page, who is living at his partner's home in Sandhoe, Hexham, had previously pleaded guilty to making two false representations in order to claim £3,543 housing benefit and £1,943 council tax benefit. He also admitted providing a false statement which claimed he was living at the Quayside flat.
Prosecuting, Kerry Walker outlined the case against him: "Between July 2002 and 2003, he told the local authority he was living at the Watergate Building.
"However, on those dates he was sub-letting that property for £500 per month. In effect, he was claiming housing and council tax benefit for a property he was not living in."
End of article.
Questions:
Did Nigel Farage know that Page had a criminal record when he was offered employment with UKIP?
Did the NEC know. Where they ever informed?
Why does the leadership condemn Ashley Mote for benefit fraud when they are seemingly prepared to ignore Page's conviction?
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