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flying fiddle maybe

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All allegedly of course (for now)
"An Army doctor fraudulently booked thousands of pounds worth of flights to visit his family, a court heard today. Lieutenant Colonel Chris Baird-Clarke was moved from his job in Scotland to a new role in England assisting new recruits, but was unhappy with the posting. A court martial heard that even after he was told he could not claim an allowance for the flights, he continued to book the travel..........The prosecutor said Lt Col Baird-Clarke, 'just wanted to fly home at public expense so came up with a ploy to achieve his aim.'"

As a Lt Col surely his salary would be sufficient to pay for the odd internal UK flights extra to his permitted travel order allowance and he isn't the first amongst us to get a unwanted cr@p posting. Perhaps there's more to this than meets the eye, has he not heeded "advice" given quietly beforehand, is he arrogant, unpopular or just a self entitled c0ck who is for now obviously innocent of all charges.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Army doctor 'fraudulently booked £2,200 of flights to visit family'

Lt Col Chris Baird-Clarke was moved from his job in Scotland to a new role in England but was unhappy with the posting so spent Army funds on flights back home, a court heard today.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk
 
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busby1971 said:
From my own experience I think about 90% of people will break the rules at some point, from taking home a ream of paper through to false claims, fraud and steeling, rank/seniority is not an indicator of integrity.

Often called upon to find out the art of the possible, within the rules of course
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I suspect you are right about the 90%, the question is why? I think, for most of the 90%, it is because of 3 things;

the rules don't cover the situation where there is a clear(or widely perceived) moral justification (we all know it's impossible to write hard & fast rules to cover all possible circumstances - if an individual chooses, for example, to print work related documents or posters for a mess function at home instead of at work should he be provided with paper & ink for the task?)​
​
the individual sees the circumstances as a 'quid pro quo' (the "i'll add 10 miles to this claim because i didn't claim the 10 miles to which i was entitled the other day" situation)​
​
the rules are badly worded & the individual isn't sure of the rights/wrongs but is afraid that if they are ask for guidance they will lose out​
​
I don't think there are many that actually start out with a deliberate criminal intent to defraud or steal.
​
 
And another brown job allegedly fiddling the system, this time it's a 2 star Major General

www.dailymail.co.uk

British Army major general stands trial accused of claiming £50k

Major General Nick Welch, 57, allegedly abused Army allowances when he took on the top job at the Ministry of Defence's London headquarters.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk

Perhaps the red caps are having a far closer look at who claims what in these budget conscious days.
 
Feels like it's a stone has been lifted that may have previously been ignored.

Big integrity issue here, even if the charge is found not proven, this is still senior leader not following the spirit of the rules.
 
I think things like Fill Your Boots has had a bit to do with this.

All of a sudden the autocratic pin your ears back and do as I say seems to be getting slowly eroded and the lads and lasses down the bottom are realising the rules are there to be applied to all, including the upper ranks.
 
Since leaving the RAF in 1989 I have had occasion to be involved in work that had dealings with senior Army officers and every single one of them was arrogant to a degree that made my toes curl.
 
From my own experience I think about 90% of people will break the rules at some point, from taking home a ream of paper through to false claims, fraud and steeling, rank/seniority is not an indicator of integrity.
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obviousy not muttywhitedog he would have at that point used

my venom and willingness to use my authority
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to back himself into a corner, maybe he should change his name to mary poppins, prctically perfect in every way.
 
Care to explain why I'd even consider backing myself into a corner over not turning a blind eye to theft?
 
Barch said:
Since leaving the RAF in 1989 I have had occasion to be involved in work that had dealings with senior Army officers and every single one of them was arrogant to a degree that made my toes curl.
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I don’t think the young ones are as accepting of that kind of behaviour these days.
 
Major General N Welch's Court Martial starts Monday 08 March 2021.

I wonder how long the trial will last.
 
busby1971 said:
I don’t think the young ones are as accepting of that kind of behaviour these days.
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There's been a suggestion that it was another wife (of an officer 2 - 3 ranks lower) that bubbled him.... I wonder if it was the RMPs or MOD Plods handled it...
 
Barch said:
Major General N Welch's Court Martial starts Monday 08 March 2021.

I wonder how long the trial will last.
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We all make mistakes and cannot control your husband/wife.

I think at worst, it will be "pay back what you owe" plus a (voluntary) discharge from the service.
 
It could be interesting to see how it pans out. The case seems to hinge on how much time his wife spent at the MQ. But she was a career woman in her own right, it appears, with a job that involved a lot of travel. Lets face it, if they had a home in Dorset and she had business meetings in Dorset over a couple of days it wouldn't be surprising if she spent the night there rather than returning to Putney.
The case might hinge upon whether the allowance depends upon the idea (and MOD expectations) that wives should be sweet little things still that give up their jobs & careers to live with their husbands (and do the wives club president, CO's wife, 'leading lady' of the site type thing as they used to) or be allowed to have their own careers & lives and not just be an adjunct to their husband's careers. It could be that the case will expose some out of date thinking and rules.....
 
Oldstacker said:
It could be interesting to see how it pans out. The case seems to hinge on how much time his wife spent at the MQ. But she was a career woman in her own right, it appears, with a job that involved a lot of travel. Lets face it, if they had a home in Dorset and she had business meetings in Dorset over a couple of days it wouldn't be surprising if she spent the night there rather than returning to Putney.
The case might hinge upon whether the allowance depends upon the idea (and MOD expectations) that wives should be sweet little things still that give up their jobs & careers to live with their husbands (and do the wives club president, CO's wife, 'leading lady' of the site type thing as they used to) or be allowed to have their own careers & lives and not just be an adjunct to their husband's careers. It could be that the case will expose some out of date thinking and rules.....
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If there was any reasonable excuse for her not predominantly living in Putney I doubt that the case would have got as far as it has.
 
You either follow the flag as a family, with all the pain that comes with that choice, and get the compensation linked to this or you live separate lives and claim the different compensation that provides.

A Putney/Dorset commute is only about an hour, it’s not like it’s the other side of the country, his wife could have got a 5 day season ticket for about a 10th of the fees claimed, poor planning and decision making on their part.
 
"Col Lamb also raised concerns about another house, but that property was lived in by an officer serving unaccompanied and they moved out shortly after."

Colonel Lamb is a proper grass isn't he?

Can see him going up and down the street with his notepad every night, looking through the windows seeing who isn't home.

Wonder if he'll get blackballed.
 
StickyFingers said:
"Col Lamb also raised concerns about another house, but that property was lived in by an officer serving unaccompanied and they moved out shortly after."

Colonel Lamb is a proper grass isn't he?

Can see him going up and down the street with his notepad every night, looking through the windows seeing who isn't home.

Wonder if he'll get blackballed.
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Or alternatively he is one of the few Army Officers who actually gives a 5h1t about his troops and the ever decreasing standards of conduct within his organisation and being strong of character and exemplary standards has whistleblown to the detriment of his own career????
 
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