Anti-hate campaigner Denis MacShane jailed

MacShane's lawyer read the court a character reference which said the politician was a "cutter of corners, a cavalier crusader.but a self-centered and greedy crook, certainly not".

The court had heard that the former Labour Friends of Israel policy advisor had filed the receipts between January 2005 and January 2008. He deliberately spelt his own name wrong as part of the cover-up. He admitted the charge last month.

MacShane resigned as Rotherham MP last year after the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee found that his abuse of the expenses system was the "gravest case" called to its attention.

At the time he said: "Clearly I deeply regret that the way I chose to be reimbursed for costs related to my work in Europe and in combating antisemitism, including being the Prime Minister's personal envoy."