Cheating Inverness Councillor to go back to court
A cheating Inverness councillor will be back in court next month to face a proceeds of crime hearing with the knowledge that his last ditch appeal to clear his name has failed,
Last month a proceeds of crime case against John Holden was continued until April 8 when a Sheriff heard he had appealed to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) in a bid to overturn his conviction for fraud.
Holden was jailed for 12 months but released after three in 2001 for failing to disclose income of £249,000 and claiming to be living alone while his partner stayed with him at his home in Teal Avenue most of the time.
He had also failed to disclose his councillor’s salary of £1,200 a month.
In August 2011 Sheriff Ian Abercrombie told John Holden he was a dishonest liar and a cheat who had deluded himself he was above the law.
Sheriff Abercrombie jailed the former Labour councillor for Inverness south for a year after finding him guilty of falsely claiming £43,000 in benefits.
The Crown has been seeking to recover the money under the Proceeds of Crime Act legislation but Holden, of Teal Avenue, Inverness had not been able to appear in court for the hearing for months because he had been suffering from depression.
However Holden, who already had his appeal thrown out by three High Court judges, was in court last month when he was deemed fit enough to appear for the civil hearing.
But his solicitor Donald Mackenzie told Sheriff Margaret Neilson Holden was now attempting to have the latest appeal heard and he had lodged papers with the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission which will be his last chance to have his conviction overturned.
This week the Commission confirmed that they were no longer reviewing his case and Holden will be back in court on April 8.
His solicitor Donald Mackenzie told Inverness Sheriff Court last month: “If the Commission agree to entertain his application it will be six to eight months before a decision is made to refer it back to the appeal court.”
But if that appeal failed he said the Proceeds of Crime matter would ‘not be a quick case’.
