Crown Court date and conditional bail for former Rotherham MP MacShane

FORMER Rotherham MP Denis MacShane will face a Crown Court judge judge at the end of the month after appearing in court to face charges of fiddling his parliamentary expenses.

MacShane is alleged to have falsely claimed £12,900 in taxpayers' money for research and translation services that he did not actually use.

The 65-year-old former Europe minister faces a single charge of “furnishing false information relating to accounts”, relating to 19 invoices for work carried out by the European Policy Institute.

He spoke to confirm his name and date of birth at today’s five minute hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and complained that the court was not aware of his new address of Westmoreland Terrace, Kensington.

MacShane was elected as MP for Rotherham in 1994 but stood down in November after the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee recommended he be suspended from the Commons for a year.

District Judge Howard Riddle gave him conditional bail and ordered him MacShane to appear before a judge at Southwark Crown Court for a preliminary hearing on September 27.