How ex-council leader stole £30k from Tory party to fund gambling addiction

A former Tory council leader jailed for fraud admitted to having a gambling problem after pocketing almost £30,000 from local Conservative associations.

Giles McNeill, 39, who was Conservative leader of West Lindsey District Council from May 2019 to September 2020, was jailed for 14 months on Thursday.

He admitted during police interview that he began gambling in 2013. This became acute by 2016, but he also insisted others were happy for him to “do the donkeys work” and not take any responsibility.

Jackie Brockway, who is a member of the Gainsborough Constituency Conservative Association and attended the court hearing, said on social media that it was “a very sad day but justice was done”.

The £30,000 pocketed by Giles McNeill from local Conservative associations and party included payments from members attending a Boris Johnson speech.

McNeill, who was previously an electoral agent for long-serving Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh, admitted eight theft, fraud and forgery offences totalling £29,770.

Lincoln Crown Court heard McNeill paid dozens of fraudulent cheques into his own bank account and kept members payments from 22 party fundraising events over a five year period.

This included paying over £4,000 meant for constituency association coffers into his own bank account the day after Boris Johnson was guest speaker at a Tory party fundraiser in March 2018.

Andrew Scott, prosecuting, said McNeill was paid £450 a month to act as the Organising Secretary for Gainsborough Constituency Conservative Association from 2010.

He also held other senior roles with the Lincolnshire Area Conservative Association and the West Lindsey District Council Constituency Conservative Association.

Mr Scott said: “Over a period of six years between 2014 and 2020 he defrauded the local Conservative associations and individual members out of almost £30,000.”

In total McNeill admitted the theft of £9,365 from the Conservative Party. Mr Scott said McNeill also made out 93 cheques on which a signature was forged.

This included 35 cheques relating to a loss over £8,500 to the Gainsborough Constituency Conservative Association, and 25 cheques relating to a loss of over to £4,600 to the West Lindsey District Council Constituency Conservative Association.

McNeill also admitted making credit transfers into his own account from the Gainsborough Constituency Conservative Association and setting up a PayPal account to siphon off over £2,000 from the organisation.

The court heard McNeill’s actions began to be uncovered when Tracey Coulson succeeded McNeill’s brother as the treasurer of Gainsborough Constituency Conservative Association in 2019.

It was discovered cheque payments for the association’s Market Rasen office had bounced and when McNeill resigned as Organisng Secretary in August 2020, Miss Coulson found the accounts “in a mess.”

Miss Coulson discovered McNeill had applied for an “inappropriate” Covid recovery grant of £10,000 from the Treasury which hid other holes in the accounts.

She was also unaware of a £6,000 loan obtained by McNeill from Conservative Central Office.

In a victim impact statement Miss Coulson said McNeill’s actions had caused huge reputational damage to the party.

Hal Ewing, mitigating, said references from his fellow councillors, and MP Sir Edward Leigh, for whom he worked closely, made it clear he was a hardworking and talented politician.

“He went into politics for the best of motives,” Mr Ewing said.

McNeill, of The Chestnuts, Nettleham, near Lincoln, admitted one charge of theft from the Conservative Party, one charge of using a false instrument, and six charges of fraud by abuse of position.

Passing sentence Judge John Pini QC said: “If the electorate can not trust those elected then politics breaks down. Your conduct was a gross breach of trust over a number of years.”

McNeill was leader of West Lindsey District Council until September 2020, when he announced he was stepping back from the role for “personal reasons”.

He also left his role as communications manager for Gainsborough Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh.

He remained a sitting councillor for the Nettleham ward prior until his resignation last month.