CALDERDALE'S leading BNP councillor is due to appear in court to face five charges of benefit fraud.
Richard Mulhall, of Mozley Drive, Illingworth, Halifax, has been summoned to appear before Calderdale magistrates after an investigation by the Department of Work and Pensions and Calderdale Council.
It is believed the total amount allegedly involved is £3,000.
Councillor Mulhall, leader of the BNP group on Calderdale Council, is charged with making a false representation to obtain jobseeker's allowance, two similar charges relating to housing benefit and a further two charges involving council tax benefit. All the offences are alleged to have taken place between 23 January 2003, and 15 March 2005.
He said today he would be pleading not guilty and claimed the outstanding monies relating to council tax and housing benefit had been repaid following an overpayment to him. He said his solicitor was puzzled as to why those charges had been brought.
He said he claimed jobseeker's allowance before becoming a councillor and was not aware of what he allegedly owed the Department of Work and Pensions.
"I might be best insisting to go to Crown Court for a fair trial,'' said Coun Mulhall (Illingworth and Mixenden).
"If they are going to go for it let's open a can of worms."
He was the second member of the party to win a seat on Calderdale Council in 2003 making him the second BNP councillor in West Yorkshire. Just months before becoming councillor for Illingworth he had been the campaign manager for the first ever BNP councillor in the county – Adrian Marsden who won a seat in the Mixenden by-election.
Councillor Mulhall won the Illingworth seat with a majority of 56, polling a total of 896 votes. He is up for re-election in 2007.
He has been a member of the BNP for more than 15 years and also stood for election in Illingworth in 1998 but he was beaten by Labour councillor Tom McElroy.
He is a member of the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Panel and a substitute member on the Planning Committee and Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel. He is also on the community services grants panel. He is a member of the Mixenden Community Association management committee and Mixenden Parents Resource Centre management committee.
Richard Mulhall, of Mozley Drive, Illingworth, Halifax, has been summoned to appear before Calderdale magistrates after an investigation by the Department of Work and Pensions and Calderdale Council.
It is believed the total amount allegedly involved is £3,000.
Councillor Mulhall, leader of the BNP group on Calderdale Council, is charged with making a false representation to obtain jobseeker's allowance, two similar charges relating to housing benefit and a further two charges involving council tax benefit. All the offences are alleged to have taken place between 23 January 2003, and 15 March 2005.
He said today he would be pleading not guilty and claimed the outstanding monies relating to council tax and housing benefit had been repaid following an overpayment to him. He said his solicitor was puzzled as to why those charges had been brought.
He said he claimed jobseeker's allowance before becoming a councillor and was not aware of what he allegedly owed the Department of Work and Pensions.
"I might be best insisting to go to Crown Court for a fair trial,'' said Coun Mulhall (Illingworth and Mixenden).
"If they are going to go for it let's open a can of worms."
He was the second member of the party to win a seat on Calderdale Council in 2003 making him the second BNP councillor in West Yorkshire. Just months before becoming councillor for Illingworth he had been the campaign manager for the first ever BNP councillor in the county – Adrian Marsden who won a seat in the Mixenden by-election.
Councillor Mulhall won the Illingworth seat with a majority of 56, polling a total of 896 votes. He is up for re-election in 2007.
He has been a member of the BNP for more than 15 years and also stood for election in Illingworth in 1998 but he was beaten by Labour councillor Tom McElroy.
He is a member of the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Panel and a substitute member on the Planning Committee and Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel. He is also on the community services grants panel. He is a member of the Mixenden Community Association management committee and Mixenden Parents Resource Centre management committee.
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double standards
12.01.2006 19:22
(Filed: 12/01/2006)
John Prescott has apologised for failing to pay Council Tax on his grace-and-favour home, saying the taxpayer footed the bill because of a "genuine misunderstanding".
John Prescott
John Prescott: 'embarrassing for the Government'
The Deputy Prime Minister has now apologised to the House of Commons and reimbursed the government departments that were paying the bill.
In a written statement Mr Prescott said the Government had paid a discounted amount of Council Tax on his flat in Admiralty House since 1997 - continuing the arrangements in place for the previous Tory government.
The total bill was £3830.52. Mr Prescott said he was paying Council Tax on his home in his Hull constituency and on a rented flat in south London which he moved out of in November 2003. He said he believed he was paying the tax on all three properties.
Because his flat was his primary residence he paid additional income tax on the benefit in kind - equivalent to 10 per cent of his ministerial salary. He said he thought the Council Tax was included.
When Labour came to power in 1997 the Government carried on paying Council Tax on the flat - at a discounted rate on the basis it was a second home. But Mr Prescott said he was not told.
In the written statement he said: "On reviewing the situation, I am now aware that an inadvertent error has occurred, based on a genuine misunderstanding. To avoid any doubt, I have therefore issued this answer to a Parliamentary Question to correct the record and to fully apologise to the House."
Mr Prescott said Commons officials had confirmed he did not break any rules. The Cabinet Secretary has also confirmed that he is putting procedures in place to ensure ministers given official residencies get clear guidance on dealing with Council Tax.
Sarah Teather, who shadows Mr Prescott's department for the Liberal Democrats, said: "It is extremely embarrassing for the Government that the man in charge of councils hasn't paid his council tax for nearly eight years.
"We are relieved to hear that Mr Prescott will be paying his bill as soon as possible, but this situation should never have arisen."
Jimmy dale