Peer denies fraud charges

Lord Taylor of Warwick, 58, appeared at Southwark Crown Court, in central London, after being charged over the parliamentary expenses scandal but did not appear in the dock.

He pleaded not guilty to six counts of false accounting relating to his second home standing at the back of the courtroom.

Taylor was set to enter pleas from the dock of court one. But as he began to move from his seat at the back of court, Mr Justice Saunders intervened and said: "He can do it from there. It's all right."