FORMER Essex County Council leader Lord Hanningfield is set to stand trial to contest allegations of false accounting in relation to his parliamentary expenses.
Hanningfield, 75, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today, listed under his common name Paul White.
The former Tory peer gave his name as “Paul Edward Winston, Lord Hanningfield” in the dock during the short hearing.
He is charged with false accounting in September, relating to claims he submitted for daily allowance at the House of Lords on 11 dates in July 2013.
Prosecutor Zoe Martin said the total amount involved was around £3,300.
Hanningfield's lawyer Daniel Godden indicated the former council leader would enter a plea of not guilty to the charge, something the peer reiterated from the dock.
Chief magistrate Howard Riddle released Hanningfield, who lives in West Hanningfield, on unconditional bail to appear next at Southwark Crown Court on November 12.
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