Attorney General Fined £5,000

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PM says Baroness only committed 'technical' breach of the legislation she helped push through Parliament

Baroness Scotland has been fined £5,000 for employing an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper for her Chiswick home.

Despite calls for her resignation, the Attorney General has hung onto her job for now after Gordon Brown said she had only committed a “technical” breach of the legislation she had helped to push through Parliament.

Lady Scotland told Sky News, “I made an administrative, technical error for which I am bitterly, bitterly sorry. I will never fail to take a photocopy [of an employee's passport] again. I got it wrong. It was a technical breach and I have paid the penalty.”

However, following the apology she added, “It's like driving into the City and not paying the congestion charge. It is not a criminal offence."

UK Border Agency Staff raided the Chiswick home of Loloahi Tapui at the weekend reportedly breaking down the door and searching the property for two hours before leaving with documents.

Today, a spokesperson for the Border Agency said that their investigation had confirmed that Lady Scotland had employed an illegal immigrant, but did not do so “knowingly”.

The fine was half the maximum of £10,000 because the Attorney General had “no history” of employing illegal immigrants and had taken “steps” to check her employee's status.

Lady Scotland said, “I fully accept the findings of the UK Border Agency, that I made a technical breach of the rules and I apologise for having made this inadvertent error.

“Having examined the documents which I was shown, I accept entirely that I should have taken copies of them and retained those copies and I accept it is my duty to pay the fine and I have done so. I sincerely apologise for my error.”