A shamed former Highland councillor branded a cheat and a liar by a sheriff has repaid £43,000 in benefits he swindled from taxpayers.
But John Holden is still protesting his innocence – and has vowed to fight on to clear his name.
At a civil hearing at Inverness Sheriff Court, fiscal depute Fraser Matheson confirmed that £34,082 still owed to the Department for Work and Pensions fraudulent income support claims had been returned.
Sheriff David Sutherland formally ended the Crown’s proceeds of crime action against 66-year-old Holden, although another £500 would have been due as interest.
The ex-councillor’s home at 8 Teal Avenue in Inverness would have been at risk had he not repaid the money.
The former Inverness South member already had more than £17,000 of pension rights confiscated to repay fraudulent claims of £9,000 in council tax benefit and single-occupancy discount.
It is believed he also cashed in two insurance policies as well as raising funds by other means.
His lawyer, Donald Mackenzie, said after yesterday’s hearing: “This matter is now finished as far as this court is concerned.”
And outside court, Holden was defiant.
He said: “The battle for me is only just starting. The money has all been repaid by me but I hope to get it all back by taking a separate action. If it is the last thing I do, I will clear my name.”
Holden was jailed for a year in August 2011 after being convicted of claiming £43,00 of benefits to which he was not entitled.
He was released in November the same year, after serving only a quarter of his sentence.
In 2012, the Crown launched an application against him under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Holden had attempted unsuccessfully to have his conviction quashed on a number of occasions.
At his trial, it was revealed that the former councillor had failed to disclose income of £249,000 and claimed to be living alone.
But the woman who later became his wife, Mary, had stayed with him for almost a decade.
He also failed to disclose his £1,200-a-month earnings as a councillor after being elected in 2007.
Sheriff Ian Abercrombie told Mr Holden he was a “cheat” and a “liar”.
He is now disqualified from sitting as a councillor because he was jailed for more than three months.
Holden’s third bid to clear his name foundered last year when the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission said it was no longer considering his case.
He appealed to the commission a year ago claiming he had new evidence which would clear his name. The commission investigates potential miscarriages of justice.
