Benefit fraud councillor back in Tory fold
A councillor suspended by the Conservatives after pleading guilty to benefit fraud has been allowed back into the party.
Carol Todd, district and parish councillor for Great Cornard, spent three months in the political wilderness after she appeared in court for claiming 2,000 in disability allowance while working as a lollipop lady.
Mrs Todd insisted she had made a genuine mistake and refused to stand down as a councillor following December's conviction – but found herself thrown out of the Babergh Conservative group.
Her exile has now ended after members of the group unanimously voted to approve her re-application at their annual meeting.
Mrs Todd, of Chelsworth Avenue, said: "I am glad to be back in the group and I am hoping I can now put the incident behind me."
Chairman of Babergh Conservatives, John Hinton, said: "She was formally suspended for three months.
"At the end of that time she has decided to re-apply and members unanimously agreed to accept her application."
An undercover team from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) had filmed Mrs Todd working as a lollipop lady and walking her dogs.
She began receiving benefits in 1982 after being hurt when her arm was caught in a warping loom at the silk factory where she worked.
But Sudbury Magistrates' Court was told she had failed to notify the DWP that her mobility had improved between November 2005 and July 2006. She was given a conditional discharge for a year and ordered to pay 100 costs.
The offences happened before she became a councillor. Election rules mean she would have been prevented from standing for the council if she had been convicted before the election.
Babergh District Council said Mrs Todd need not resign as its code of conduct applied only to councillors acting in an official capacity and not in a personal capacity.
Sudbury district and county councillor Colin Spence has stood down as chairman of Babergh Conservatives after five years.
Mr Spence said his responsibilities as a county councillor were taking up a lot of his time. He had planned to step down last year but was urged to stay on.
John Hinton, councillor for Dodnash, was elected chairman.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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