Former Conservative leader of West Lindsey District Council has pleaded guilty to theft, fraud and forgery charges
Magistrates said in court the case was too complex for their sentencing guidelines
The former Conservative leader of West Lindsey District Council has pleaded guilty to theft, fraud and forgery charges totalling £31,201.04, over a period of six years.
Councillor Giles McNeill, now an Independent, appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on Thursday where he entered a guilty plea to all eight charges.
McNeill, 39, of The Chestnuts, Nettleham, has been charged with offences dating from 2014 to 2020 including:
One count of theft by employee, stealing ÂŁ10,948.50 from the Conservative Party
One count of forging signatures on 93 cheques
And six charges of fraud by abuse of power – abusing his positions as organising secretary of the Gainsborough Constituency Conservative Association, treasurer of West Lindsey District Council Conservatives, treasurer of Gainsborough Constituency Conservative Club and treasurer of the Lincolnshire Area Conservative Party by fraudulently cashing cheques totalling £20,252.54 and retaining the money in his own personal bank account
Magistrates said in court the case was too complex for their sentencing guidelines.
Councillor McNeill will now appear before Lincoln Crown Court on a date and time to be confirmed.
He was released on unconditional bail.