Doncaster pair lose appeal

The men's sentences were not excessive, the Appeal Court heard

A businessman and a councillor from Doncaster who were jailed for corruption have had legal appeals rejected by judges in London.

The pair were convicted at Nottingham Crown Court in March last year of bribery and corruption.

Doncaster businessman Alan Hughes was sentenced to five years and council planning chief Peter Birks four years, for the planning scam at the Poppyfields site in Branton.

But Appeal Court judges rejected their appeals to have their sentences cut, saying they were not manifestly excessive.

The original trial heard that Hughes, 64, of Bawtry Road, gave Birks a £160,000 farmhouse to smooth the way for planning permission at the town site.

Birks, 59, of Stocksbridge Lane, was convicted of corruptly receiving a benefit.