Anthony Bourne

**Anthony John Bourne** (b. 19 July 1948) is a British politician, businessman and fraudster who served as Attorney General for the state of Sussex from 1993 to 1998. As Attorney General, he fraudulently put £6,000,000 (6 million) into personal investments and lied about it to a court. Consequently, he has been under house arrest at his home near Chichester, Sussex, since 2015.

## Personal details

### Born

19 July 1948 (Age 74)
 Crawley, Sussex,
 Commonwealth of Britain

### Party

 Independent (2014-present, 1998-1999, 1974-1980)

### Other political affiliations

 Conservative (1980-1998,1999-2014)
Liberal (1969-1974)

Bourne attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied law. He graduated in 1969, and joined the Liberal Party in the same year, supporting Jeremy Thorpe for president in 1970 and 1974. Thorpe was arrested for being a homosexual in 1974, which led to him leaving the Liberal party. He met his future wife Katy McPartlin in 1979, and they married in 1981. Together, they had 4 children, all sons, between 1982 and 1989. In 1980, he joined the Conservative party, citing admiration for then President  Thatcher. He inherited his father's business that specialised in printing books and newspapers, and wrote a weekly political satirical magazine, *Political Punchlines*, which over 200,000 people subscribed to. His father wrote in the magazine from 1966 to his death in 1985, and Bourne restarted the magazine in 1987.

In 1992, Bourne was elected Attorney General of the State of Sussex. Despite his successful career as Attorney General of the State of Sussex, Bourne's reputation was shattered when he became embroiled in a scandal in 1997. It was revealed that he had put £6 million into his personal bank account, leading to accusations of embezzlement and corruption. The scandal rocked the legal and political communities, and Bourne's popularity quickly waned. Although he denied any wrongdoing, public opinion turned against him. In 1998, Bourne resigned from his position as Attorney General, and the investigation into his actions continued.

 Henry Smith, who succeeded him as Attorney General, called the allegations against him a "load of b\*\*\*sh\*\*", after finding no records of this. This is likely due to a cover up in Bourne's final days as Attorney General. For over a decade after this event, it was believed he did no wrong doing, especially after it was denied under oath. In 2000, he was elected to the House of Representatives to Sussex's 1st Congressional District, and served until he lost re-election in 2012. Allegations against him increase in the 2010s, and by 2014 he was arrested, leading to a new investigation. The new investigation concluded he indeed did put £6million into his own account, which he still denies. As a result of overwhelming evidence, he was found guilty is fraud and lying to a court, and he was sentenced to "indefinite" house arrest in 2015, and fined £130,000,000, which he paid by selling many properties he had around the world. He wife was placed under house arrest for 1 year.

Anthony Bourne and his wife live in their 34,000 sq ft Sussex mansion on the south west coast. Bourne has regularly attempted to end his house arrest, though it has always been a failed attempt.