THE jury in the trial of a councillor and his wife who are accused of benefit fraud has retired to consider its verdict.

Graham Sinclair, Conservative member for Chingford Green, and his wife, Deborah de la Nougerede Sinclair, allegedly defrauded the taxpayer of £9,700.

Cllr Sinclair, who is also a magistrate, is accused of dishonestly claiming council tax benefit, housing benefit and income support by failing to declare his members allowance.

His wife is charged with making dishonest representations on a benefit form.

They both deny the charges.

Addressing the jury at Southwark Crown Court today, Kevin Dent, prosecuting, said Mr Sinclair’s plea of ignorance was “not credible”.

He said: “This experienced man of the world is saying to you that he just did not understand what this was all about.

“This diligent and successful man just never asked, it never occured to him, he never assessed these documents, never read the council’s constitution. Does that fit with you? Does that make sense? Does that add up?"

He added: “When you look at all the evidence, you are bound to come to the conclusion that he did know and the reason he didn’t tell the authorities about the members allowance is that he wanted, or needed, the money."

Mr Dent said Mrs Sinclair had taken her loyalty to her husband "too far" in dishonestly not telling a benefits inspector about the allowance.

Jamie Sawyer, defending, said: ”Mr Sinclair may have been stupid, might have been ignorant, but he was not dishonest.”

Jane Oldfield, defending Mrs Sinclair, said Mrs Sinclair did not have any particular reason to look into the details of Mr Sinclair’s council allowance.

A verdict is now expected on Monday.