James Devine (born 21 May 1953) is a former Member of Parliament. He was the Labour Party member for

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

from

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

until

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and Chairman of the Scottish Labour Party between 1994 and 1995. On 16 June 2009, following the 2009 expenses scandal, he was barred by the Labour Party from seeking re-election at the 2010 general election, after reports he claimed expenses for work on his home from a non-existent firm. He was convicted of false accounting on 10 February 2011 and sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment on 31 March 2011.

Early life

Devine was born and brought up in

Blackburn, West Lothian Blackburn is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, near both Bathgate and Livingston, two of the larger towns in the county. It is situated approximately west of Edinburgh and east of Glasgow on the old A8 road. History Blackburn means "the bl ...

and was educated in

Bathgate Bathgate ( sco, Bathket or , gd, Both Chèit) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Armadale, Blackburn, Linlithgow, Livingston, West Calder and Whitburn. Situated sout ...

. He served as the

election agent An election agent in elections in the United Kingdom, as well as some other similar political systems such as elections in India, is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is ...

for Livingston Constituency Labour Party and the local MP

Robin Cook Robert Finlayson "Robin" Cook (28 February 19466 August 2005) was a British Labour politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 until his death in 2005 and served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 until 2001 whe ...

from the 1983 general election until Cook died in 2005. From 1994 to 1995 he was the Chairman of the

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...

. Prior to his election, Devine worked as a full-time trade union official for the

Confederation of Health Service Employees The Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) was a United Kingdom trade union representing workers primarily in the National Health Service. History The union was founded in 1946 with the merger of the Mental Hospital and Institutional ...

(COHSE) and then as Head of Health in the Scottish Region of the public sector union after

UNISON In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

was formed in 1993. Before becoming a trade union official Devine was a

mental health nurse A Mental Health Nurse (MHN) refers to a ''psychiatric nurse'' in the UK, who specialises in the care of patients with mental health issues. Background MHNs comprise approximately 12% of the total NHS Nursing workforce. In order to qualify as a MH ...

, having trained and worked at Bangour Village Hospital in

Dechmont Dechmont (Gaelic: ''Deagh Mhonadh'') is a small village located near Uphall, West Lothian in Scotland. Bangour Village Hospital is located to the west of Dechmont. It has an approximate population of 989 people. Its postal code is EH52. An allege ...

Parliamentary career

He was selected to succeed Robin Cook as the Labour Party candidate in the ensuing 2005 Livingston by-election following Cook's sudden death. He won, defeating his SNP rival though Labour's majority was reduced by more than 10,000 votes. He made his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

on 25 October 2005. He served as the

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to the

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

Minister Rosie Winterton until he resigned in protest at the decision to replace Trident. He was also a member of the Science and Technology as well as the

Scottish Affairs Select Committee The Scottish Affairs Select Committee is a Select committee (United Kingdom), select committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the e ...

s. In October 2010, Devine's former office manager Marion Kinley won a complaint of

unfair dismissal In labour law, unfair dismissal is an act of employment termination made without good reason or contrary to the country's specific legislation. Situation per country Australia (See: '' unfair dismissal in Australia'') Australia has long-standing ...

and breach of contract against him. An

employment tribunal Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, red ...

ruled that Devine had subjected Kinley to "a course of bullying and harassment". During the hearing, Devine was accused of perpetrating a hoax suggesting that newspapers were investigating the two of them. He was said to have used a friend, Fiona Fox, to pose as an investigative journalist. Compensation of £35,000 was ordered to be paid. On Devine's failure to pay the compensation of £35,000, bankruptcy proceedings were instituted against him and he was adjudicated bankrupt on 23 February 2011.

MPs' expenses

On 2 June 2009, Devine was referred to the Labour Party's 'star committee' with a status of 'urgent' in connection with allegations involving expense claims submitted for a company that never existed. He had gained the backing of his local party members a week prior to the hearing, but the panel unanimously recommended he should be deselected. He was thereafter barred from standing as a candidate for the Labour Party in the next UK general election.

Prosecution and conviction

On 5 February 2010 it was announced that Devine was to be prosecuted over his expense claims. The former Livingston MP initially faced two charges under section 17 of the Theft Act 1968 of

false accounting False accounting is a legal term for a type of fraud, considered a statutory offence in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. England and Wales This offence is created by section 17 of the Theft Act 1968 which provides: ...

. The first charge alleged that between July 2008 and April 2009 Devine dishonestly claimed £3,240 for cleaning services using false invoices. The second charge alleged that in March 2009 Devine dishonestly claimed £5,505 for stationery using false invoices. He denied the charges, though in a live

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

interview when questioned: "So you got a receipt from somebody you were paying as a member of staff, and submitted it as stationery?" by journalist

Krishnan Guru-Murthy Krishnan Guru-Murthy (born 5 April 1970) is a British journalist. He is the lead presenter of ''Channel 4 News''. He also presents '' Unreported World'', a foreign-affairs documentary series. Early life Guru-Murthy's father, an Indian consul ...

, Devine replied: "Yes. This was allowed at the time." On 27 May 2010 Devine,

Elliot Morley Elliot Anthony Morley (born 6 July 1952) is a British former Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glanford and Scunthorpe from 1987 to 1997 and then Scunthorpe from 1997 to 2010. In 2009, he was accused by ''The D ...

David Chaytor David Michael Chaytor (born 3 August 1949) is a former British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury North from 1997 to 2010. He was the first member of Parliament to be sentenced following the United Kingdom ...

and

Lord Hanningfield Paul Edward Winston White, Baron Hanningfield (born 16 September 1940) is a British politician and a member of the House of Lords. He served in various leadership roles in local government as a Conservative and was influential in the establishm ...

(Paul White) appeared at

Southwark Crown Court The Crown Court at Southwark, commonly but inaccurately called Southwark Crown Court, is one of two locations of the Crown Court in the London SE1 postcode area, along with the Crown Court at Inner London. Opened in 1983, the brick building is ...

for a preliminary hearing. They faced charges of false accounting under the Theft Act. Devine's trial began on 2 February 2011. The indictment he faced ultimately included three counts of false accounting under the Theft Act 1968. On 10 February 2011 he was found guilty on two counts of false accounting (relating to false claims for a total of £8,385) but not guilty on another count (relating to £360). Sentencing was adjourned for four weeks. On 31 March 2011 Devine was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment. He was released from prison on 1 August 2011 after serving a quarter of his sentence. He was freed under the home detention curfew scheme, under which prisoners who are deemed to pose a low risk are tagged and released early after serving at least a quarter of their sentence. His release was met with anger from groups including the

TaxPayers' Alliance The TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) is a pressure group in the United Kingdom which was formed in 2004 to campaign for a low-tax society. The group had about 18,000 registered supporters as of 2008 and claimed to have 55,000 by September 2010. However ...

. As a result of his conviction and sentence, Devine was automatically expelled from the Labour Party.

Personal life

Devine used to live in

. He is divorced from his wife Liz, and has a daughter and a son. In 2005, Devine admitted to a number of affairs and a conviction for

drink driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is i ...

. After his release from prison, Devine moved to

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Castl ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

to start a new life.

References

External links

BBC News – Cook's agent to stand in election
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devine, Jim 1953 births Living people Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies People from Blackburn, West Lothian Politics of West Lothian Scottish Labour MPs Scottish nurses Scottish Roman Catholics Scottish trade unionists UK MPs 2005–2010 Scottish fraudsters Scottish politicians convicted of crimes Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales Scottish prisoners and detainees British politicians convicted of fraud Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom 21st-century Scottish criminals