The former Reform politician Nathan Gill has been sentenced to ten and a half years in prison for taking bribes to make pro-Russian statements when he was a Member of the European Parliament.In September Gill pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery. The payments, which were received between December 2018 and July 2019 while Gill was a Brexit Party MEP, likely amounted to at least £40,000 according to police.
The court was told that Gill’s offences related to his association with Oleg Voloshyn, who was sanctioned by the UK Government in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Reform have described Gill’s behaviour as “treasonous” and welcomed his custodial sentence. Gill was Reform’s leader in Wales in 2021 for a total of 43 days. He had previously been involved in the Brexit Party and UKIP when Nigel Farage was leader of those parties. Reform won one percent of the vote in the 2021 Welsh Senedd elections when Gill was leader.
Al Carns, the armed forces minister, has called on Reform to conduct a “full investigation” into the matter. He said today: “I’ve been in the marines for 24 years and to find out that someone has taken money from Russia, I think is an absolute disgrace.”
A Reform UK spokesman said: “Mr Gill’s actions were reprehensible, treasonous and unforgivable.We are glad that justice has been served and fully welcome the sentence Nathan Gill has received.”
The judge said Gill would be eligible for release on license after serving half of the sentence.
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