If anyone is to be jailed for giving a false address... By Richard Littlejohn 
Last updated at 10:48 AM on 12th May 2009
She is believed to be the first parent to be taken to court for supplying deliberately misleading information to the education authorities.
Mrs Patel says that when she submitted the application, on behalf of her five-year-old son Rhys, she was living at her mother's flat, a short walk from the heavily over-subscribed Pinner Park First School, in Harrow, North-West London.
Her local council claims she was actually living with her husband three miles away, well outside the catchment area.
Mrinal Patel, accused of giving a false address to get her son into a better school. She now faces a £5,000 fine or a year in prison
Mrinal Patel, accused of giving a false address to get her son into a better school. She now faces a £5,000 fine or a year in prison
After a year-long inquiry she has been charged with fraud by false representation and will appear before Harrow magistrates later this month.
Mrs Patel continues to protest her innocence, saying that she returned to her husband three weeks after submitting the application and didn't give it any further thought.
Whatever the truth of the matter, dragging this 41-year-old mother through the courts seems draconian. At worst, she is guilty of trying to do the best for her son.
Who could blame her? After its last Ofsted inspection, Pinner Park was praised as 'outstanding' and given top marks in 29 out of 31 available categories. So it's hardly surprising that parents do all they can to get their children admitted. Last year, there were 430 applications for just 90 places.
If the council thought Mrs Patel was cheating the system, all it had to do was refuse Rhys a place and send her a nasty letter.
But that's not how it's done these days. A number of councils have been using anti-terror legislation to mount elaborate surveillance operations designed to catch parents trying to get their children places in the best schools by pretending they live within the catchment area.
Pushy parents are hardly in the same league as suicide bombers, but it does give you a telling insight into the mindset of the people who run our town halls.
Does anyone seriously believe that this is a 'crime' which warrants a £5,000 fine or a year behind bars?
In the normal course of events, Mrs Patel might expect to appeal for help from her MP, Tony McNulty, that legendary pillar of probity.
Unfortunately, McNulty himself is not above giving a false address. Recently, you may recall, it was revealed that bold McNulty, the Labour MP for Harrow East, who is also a Minister of the Crown, had claimed £60,000 from the taxpayer by falsely registering his parents' house in Harrow as his 'second home'. His real home is just six miles away.
While authorities pursue Mrs Patel, the corrupt minister Tony McNulty will, of course, get off scot-free, despite lying about his address to extract maximum financial gain from the taxpayer
While authorities pursue Mrs Patel, the corrupt minister Tony McNulty will, of course, get off scot-free, despite lying about his address to extract maximum financial gain from the taxpayer
If anyone is guilty of serious fraud by misrepresentation, it's Tony McNulty. But unlike Mrs Patel, he hasn't been charged, and nor is he likely to be.
There are plenty of examples of MPs giving false addresses - pretending that their main home is their second home and vice versa to obtain the maximum possible expenses and allowances.
Politicians of all parties give deliberately misleading information, not just to the parliamentary expenses authorities, but even to Revenue and Customs, in a cynical and calculated attempt to avoid Capital Gains Tax when they come to sell their properties.
Dozens of other MPs are equally guilty of fraud and stealing, but don't expect any criminal charges. They exempt themselves from the laws which apply to the 'little people' like Mrs Patel and all the rest of us.
It is worth remembering that in 1997 this Government was elected on a platform of 'education, education, education'.
Twelve years on, standards of literacy and numeracy have declined still further - which is why desperate parents will resort to subterfuge to get their children into any school which will give them a half-decent chance of emerging at age 11 with the ability to read and write properly.
Perhaps if the politicians had devoted more time to the job in hand and less to working out ever more elaborate ways to fiddle their expenses, parents wouldn't need to play the system to secure a decent education for their children.
What sort of country have we become where a loving mother can be facing a prison sentence for trying to do the best for her five-year-old son?
Meanwhile, lying crooks such as her own Member of Parliament, Tony McNulty, and his fellow criminal conspirators can steal millions from hard-working taxpayers and escape scot-free.
If we're going to prosecute people for giving false addresses, let's start with the corrupt MP for Harrow East.
http://www.dailymai l.co.uk/debate/ article-1180658/ RICHARD-LITTLEJO HN-If-jailed- giving-false- address-. html
A woman accused of giving a false address to get her son into a leading state school is being prosecuted for fraud. If convicted, Mrinal Patel could face a £5,000 fine or a year in prison.
She is believed to be the first parent to be taken to court for supplying deliberately misleading information to the education authorities.
Mrs Patel says that when she submitted the application, on behalf of her five-year-old son Rhys, she was living at her mother's flat, a short walk from the heavily over-subscribed Pinner Park First School, in Harrow, North-West London.
Her local council claims she was actually living with her husband three miles away, well outside the catchment area.
Mrinal Patel, accused of giving a false address to get her son into a better school. She now faces a £5,000 fine or a year in prison
Mrinal Patel, accused of giving a false address to get her son into a better school. She now faces a £5,000 fine or a year in prison
After a year-long inquiry she has been charged with fraud by false representation and will appear before Harrow magistrates later this month.
Mrs Patel continues to protest her innocence, saying that she returned to her husband three weeks after submitting the application and didn't give it any further thought.
Whatever the truth of the matter, dragging this 41-year-old mother through the courts seems draconian. At worst, she is guilty of trying to do the best for her son.
Who could blame her? After its last Ofsted inspection, Pinner Park was praised as 'outstanding' and given top marks in 29 out of 31 available categories. So it's hardly surprising that parents do all they can to get their children admitted. Last year, there were 430 applications for just 90 places.
If the council thought Mrs Patel was cheating the system, all it had to do was refuse Rhys a place and send her a nasty letter.
But that's not how it's done these days. A number of councils have been using anti-terror legislation to mount elaborate surveillance operations designed to catch parents trying to get their children places in the best schools by pretending they live within the catchment area.
Pushy parents are hardly in the same league as suicide bombers, but it does give you a telling insight into the mindset of the people who run our town halls.
Does anyone seriously believe that this is a 'crime' which warrants a £5,000 fine or a year behind bars?
In the normal course of events, Mrs Patel might expect to appeal for help from her MP, Tony McNulty, that legendary pillar of probity.
Unfortunately, McNulty himself is not above giving a false address. Recently, you may recall, it was revealed that bold McNulty, the Labour MP for Harrow East, who is also a Minister of the Crown, had claimed £60,000 from the taxpayer by falsely registering his parents' house in Harrow as his 'second home'. His real home is just six miles away.
While authorities pursue Mrs Patel, the corrupt minister Tony McNulty will, of course, get off scot-free, despite lying about his address to extract maximum financial gain from the taxpayer
While authorities pursue Mrs Patel, the corrupt minister Tony McNulty will, of course, get off scot-free, despite lying about his address to extract maximum financial gain from the taxpayer
If anyone is guilty of serious fraud by misrepresentation, it's Tony McNulty. But unlike Mrs Patel, he hasn't been charged, and nor is he likely to be.
There are plenty of examples of MPs giving false addresses - pretending that their main home is their second home and vice versa to obtain the maximum possible expenses and allowances.
Politicians of all parties give deliberately misleading information, not just to the parliamentary expenses authorities, but even to Revenue and Customs, in a cynical and calculated attempt to avoid Capital Gains Tax when they come to sell their properties.
Dozens of other MPs are equally guilty of fraud and stealing, but don't expect any criminal charges. They exempt themselves from the laws which apply to the 'little people' like Mrs Patel and all the rest of us.
It is worth remembering that in 1997 this Government was elected on a platform of 'education, education, education'.
Twelve years on, standards of literacy and numeracy have declined still further - which is why desperate parents will resort to subterfuge to get their children into any school which will give them a half-decent chance of emerging at age 11 with the ability to read and write properly.
Perhaps if the politicians had devoted more time to the job in hand and less to working out ever more elaborate ways to fiddle their expenses, parents wouldn't need to play the system to secure a decent education for their children.
What sort of country have we become where a loving mother can be facing a prison sentence for trying to do the best for her five-year-old son?
Meanwhile, lying crooks such as her own Member of Parliament, Tony McNulty, and his fellow criminal conspirators can steal millions from hard-working taxpayers and escape scot-free.
If we're going to prosecute people for giving false addresses, let's start with the corrupt MP for Harrow East.
http://www.dailymai l.co.uk/debate/ article-1180658/ RICHARD-LITTLEJO HN-If-jailed- giving-false- address-. html
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