A Lib Dem has been convicted of stealing from the Poppy Appeal charity but is set to remain a councillor because he was only sentenced to community service. Yeovil councillor Peter Brock — pictured above with Yeovil MP and schools minister David Laws — admitted trousering £1,231 as chairman of the Royal British Legion’s local branch.

Cllr Brock failed to attend a meeting on accounting irregularities before he finally admitted writing himself 23 cheques. He even had the cheek to downplay fundraising expectations in one of the years he was nicking donations, blaming the financial crisis:

“It would be great to meet last year’s total or beat it, but we have to be realistic.

“People only have so much money.”

Having escaped with 150 hours of community service, Brock avoids automatic disqualification which would comes with a three-month suspended prison sentence or greater.

It remains to be seen whether the Lib Dems dump him or stick their fingers in their ears.

UPDATE: The Lib Dems are breaking with tradition and actually acting on this. The local party chairman tells Scrapbook that Cllr Brock has already been suspended from the council group and proceedings to expel him from the party are under way.