A senior Army officer accused of fraudulently claiming nearly £50,000 in private school fees today told a court martial he thought he was entitled to it as long as his wife was with him wherever he worked.
Major General Nick Welch is on trial at Bulford Military Court accused of falsely claiming £48,000 to pay for his children’s boarding schools between 2015 and 2017.
The prosecution says the two star general had applied for the allowance on the basis that both he and his wife would not be living close to the children’s schools in Dorset.
The 57-year-old claimed he thought he satisfied the ‘underlying principles’ of the allowance rules as long as he and wife Charlotte, 54, ‘endeavoured to be together’.
But prosecutors allege he lied to the Army and spent most of their time at their £800,000 Dorset home rather than in military quarters in London.
He is the most senior officer to face court martial since 1815.
Major General Nick Welch is accused of falsely claiming £48,000 to pay for his children’s boarding schools
The 57-year-old, pictured in Afghanistan with then-Prime Minister David Cameron, denies fraud
The Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) was claimed to allow their children to stay at two different boarding schools.
The payment, which covers 90 per cent of fees, is aimed at allowing children of service personnel to remain at the same schools to enable their serving parent to be accompanied by their spouse as they are posted to different locations.
But the prosecution claims that his wife actually spent most of her time at the cottage in Dorset, close to the two schools, rather than at their stated military accommodation in Putney, London.
Sarah Clarke QC, prosecuting, described Mrs Welch as a ‘country girl’, and said she was away from Putney for more than 200 days a year.
She said she was involved in the local community in Dorset, as a member of a book club, playing the flute at the local church, and having a ‘network of friends’.
The CEA rules say that the spouse must not be away from the residence at work address (RWA) – which was in Putney for the Welch family – for more than 90 days per year.
Major General Welch told the hearing that his understanding of the rules was that his wife had to be staying where he was in order to comply with the definition of accompanied service.
He said: ‘I didn’t understand the differences between the different definitions of serving accompanied.
‘My understanding was that, excluding leave and weekends, that we would endeavour to be together and as I was working in London she would be with me and when we were not she was allowed 90 days of leeway.
‘In my mind the underlying principle was accompanied service, I don’t think I particularly took issue with where we were.
‘She was with me where I was working, I was accompanied as long as she was with me somewhere.’
Welch (pictured in 2014), told the hearing that his understanding of the rules was that his wife had to be staying where he was staying in order to comply with the definition of accompanied service
Maj Gen Nick Welch claimed he thought he satisfied the ‘underlying principles’ of the allowance rules as long as he and Charlotte Welch ‘endeavoured to be together’
The 57-year-old told the court that he would often stay at Blandford for weekends, as he had meetings at the Army HQ in Andover on a Monday, and often on a Thursday or Friday, and said it was the ‘most efficient’ use of his time.
He added: ‘It was balancing duty with family life.’
Major General Welch also admitted he was caught on a lawnmower at his £800,000 country home when he was supposed to be working there.
One of his children sent a video to the family’s WhatsApp group chat with the caption ‘Dad hard at work’.
He said he was on a ‘traction day’ which allowed him to work from home but accepted he used the lawnmower.
He added: ‘It doesn’t prove that I wasn’t working.. I was working that day.’
He denies fraud and the trial continues.