Tom Hollis: Ashfield councillor fined over financial disclosure failings

A deputy council leader has been fined for failing to declare a financial interest after lending a fellow councillor £70,000 to part-fund a house purchase.

Tom Hollis, 30, pleaded guilty to two offences at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on Monday.

The deputy leader of Ashfield District Council was fined £2,400 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £960.

He has not been disqualified from serving as a councillor.

Hollis, who is also a Nottinghamshire county councillor, admitted two offences of failing without reasonable excuse to notify both authorities of a disclosable pecuniary interest when he was re-elected in 2019 and 2021.

The court heard that Hollis, who earns £4,500 per month from his council roles, loaned £70,000 to councillor Helen-Ann Smith in 2018.

She also received £5,000 from another party and bought a property in Forest Road, Skegby, for about £75,000.

Prosecutor Sinjin Bulbring said Ms Smith registered herself as the legal owner of the property, but Hollis failed to register as a beneficial owner.

The house was sold in 2021, the court heard.

After the sale, around £97,000 was transferred to Hollis's father and then to him, although £12,000 was returned to Ms Smith to pay capital gains tax.

Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, representing Hollis, told the court the rationale behind the loan was to help a friend.

He said: "There was no dishonesty in this case and that's more important when one considers the role this man performs within his local community."

Mr Hussain added that Hollis, of Yew Tree Drive in Huthwaite, has debts of about £80,000.

Passing sentence, deputy chief magistrate, Tan Ikram, said: "It is not suggested that he benefitted from any decision made in his role as a councillor as regards to his non-disclosure.

"These offences, I am told, only came to light because of a police inquiry in relation to an unrelated case, and because the matter was in the hands of the police the matter comes before the courts, rather than being dealt with by the internal processes within the local authority."

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