A former Tory peer has been found guilty of fiddling his expenses.
Lord Taylor of Warwick falsely claimed for travel and overnight subsistence, a jury at Southwark Crown Court decided by a majority of 11 to one.
The 58-year-old told the House of Lords members' expenses office that his main residence was in Oxford, when he lived in west London.
Lord Taylor, who stood impassively in the dock as the guilty verdict on all six counts was delivered, becomes the first parliamentarian to be tried and convicted by a jury over the expenses scandal.
Lord Taylor, of Lynwood Road, Ealing, west London, was standing trial for making £11,277.80 worth of claims on various dates between March 2006 and October 2007.
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| Thieving Conman John Taylor |
John Taylor became the first black Conservative peer when he took his seat in the House of Lords in 1996, following a failed attempt to get elected as MP for Cheltenham in 1992.
Throughout the trial, Lord Taylor maintained he was following the advice given to him by fellow peers, that nominating a main residence outside of the capital was a way to earn money "in lieu of salary".
Prosecutor Helen Law said: "The prosecution say this case is very simple. Lord Taylor did not have a main home in Oxford and he was not entitled to claim as if he did.
"He knew that and he claimed anyway. He did so in a way that he knew would mislead the Members' Expenses Section into making payments he wasn't entitled to. His actions were dishonest."
Lord Taylor, who was once a barrister himself, was the first black peer in the Lords and has held many different media and charity roles in recent years.
He is the first parliamentarian to be tried and found guilty over the expenses scandal.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
I demand he be stripped of his title and barred from ever holding public office again.
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