Peer denies £24,300 expenses fraud

A former Tory peer today denied dishonestly claiming more than £24,300 in overnight subsistence and mileage.

Lord Taylor of Warwick, 58, appeared at Southwark Crown Court, in central London, after being charged over the parliamentary expenses scandal but did not appear in the dock

He pleaded not guilty to six counts of false accounting relating to his second home standing at the back of the courtroom.

The first charge alleges that on or around March 31 2006 he dishonestly submitted claims for overnight subsistence and car mileage, stating his main home was outside London when he lived in the capital.

The other five charges allege similar claims were made on July 3 2006, October 31 2006, April 5 2007, July 2 2007 and October 31 2007.

Taylor - full name John David Beckett Taylor - was set to enter pleas from the dock of court one.

But as Taylor began to move from his seat at the back of court, Mr Justice Saunders intervened and said: "He can do it from there. It's all right."