Office manager condemns ‘habitual liar’ in court

Despite an employment tribunal ruling against him, the former MP still tried to point the finger at his office manager during his trial. Devine claimed that Marion Kinley, whom he took on in March 2006, paid herself more than £5,000 from his staffing allowance without his knowledge.

He told the court he made his own investigations, claiming: “She realised I had been in the fees office. She went home at about 11 o’clock that morning. She claimed sickness and went off work for about six months.”

Following his conviction, Ms Kinley said: “Justice has been done. The Jury obviously saw through Mr Devine’s lies.

“For legal reasons, I will not be making any further comment at this time.”

Earlier, Ms Kinley hit out at his version of events, saying: “These are the ramblings of a desperate man.”

In fact, an employment tribunal in Edinburgh last autumn had already found in her favour.

She said: “Far from receiving anything I was not entitled to, the employment tribunal judge ruled fully in my favour and in November 2010, Mr Devine was ordered to pay me £35,000. To date he has still not paid up and is being pursued by my legal team. In my experience, the man is a habitual liar.”

In a statement issued in response to Devine’s claims in court, Ms Kinley said an employment tribunal judge decided she went off sick after Mr Devine organised for a woman to call her at home at the end of March 2008 pretending to be a journalist from the Telegraph and because of the ensuing actions of Mr Devine.

Despite the evidence against him, Devine continued to protest his innocence during his trial.