Labour Councillor - Homophobic attack

A senior councillor who hurled a 'homophobic' insult at a political rival's mother has been cautioned by police.

Deputy leader of Barking and Dagenham council Liam Smith is said to have told the 60-year-old 'shut up you f***ing fat dyke' and 'go back to the farmyard' after a trivial argument in the council chamber.

The Labour councillor lost his temper after watching the Conservatives snatch a seat in a by-election last month.

When Sue Connelly, mother of local Tory councillor Neil, got into a minor row with him at the count he verbally abused her in front of shocked onlookers.

Mrs Connelly, a married grandmother of eight who is not gay, was shocked by the tirade.

She said: 'I was so stunned that I didn't know what to say in reply. To be spoken to like that in the council chamber in front of so many people was awful. I felt humiliated.

'I am not a lesbian but I have nothing against them and that word should not be used to insult anyone. It was vicious, nasty and homophobic. He should step down or be told to go.'

The abuse happened after a Conservative candidate won a by-election in the Chadwell Heath ward on 3 July, claiming only the party's second seat on the Labour-controlled authority.

The Tories have struggled to win seats on the council where the British National Party is now the official opposition with 12 councillors.

The insult was reported to police and investigated by officers as a hate crime. A file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service but lawyers decided Mr Smith should receive a conditional caution rather than being prosecuted.

He was ordered to write a letter of apology to Mrs Connelly and warned about his future conduct.

Mrs Connelly, of Romford, works as the constituency secretary for Conservative shadow home affairs minister Andrew Rosindell.

Mr Rosindell, MP for Romford, said: 'This was a totally inappropriate way for the deputy leader of a council to behave in public.

'To insult awoman of Mrs Connelly's age, a grandmother, like that was outrageous. Mrs Connelly is a nice woman who is very popular locally and she did not deserve this.

'It is bizarre that an elected representative from a party that professes to be tolerant of people whatever their lifestyle should use language like that.'

The council's standards board was alerted to the comments but Mr Smith remains the deputy leader. He declined to comment on the row.

A CPS spokeswoman said it 'takes homophobic crime very seriously but in this case, we decided the word 'dyke' was not being used in a homophobic way against Mrs Connelly.'

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Tags: Labour, homophobic

Conservative Councillor - Harassment

Paul Peccioli, 55, "reacted badly" when Julia Pickup, whom he met online, told him she thought they should stop seeing each other, a court heard.

When Miss Pickup, 51, told him that their six-month relationship was over he banged his head against a wall then held up an airgun, telling Miss Pickup he would "deck her if she was a man", Leicester Crown Court was told.

The court heard that over the next few days Peccioli, a former Conservative member of Daventry District Council, slapped Miss Pickup's legs and threatened to take an overdose.

When she tried to go to work one morning, four days after she had ended their relationship, Peccioli blocked her path.

But he allowed her to call in to explain her absence. Two workmates realised something was wrong and went to her home.

When they arrived at the property in Ullesthorpe, Leicestershire, Miss Pickup escaped but Peccioli chased after them in his own car.

Mr Thatcher told the court: "She ran out to the waiting car. When Peccioli realised what was happening he ran out after her, screaming."

Miss Pickup's colleague did not know the village and turned into a cul-de-sac.

Peccioli tried to open the doors of the car, forcing Miss Pickup's colleague to mount the pavement. They managed to drive away, but Peccioli was following at high speeds.

Miss Pickup's colleague drove to the nearest police station where Peccioli was arrested.

He pleaded guilty to putting a person in fear of violence by harassment and blamed his driving on "emotional upset".

The couple met via the internet in March last year, but Miss Pickup ended the relationship in September after Peccioli became "possessive and overbearing".

Peccioli was given a 12-month suspended prison sentence and a restraining order that prevents him from going within 50 metres of Miss Pickup's home or contacting her.

Judge Michael Pert QC said: "I am prepared to accept that at this late stage of your life you have made a fool of yourself rather than being an inherently dangerous person.

"But that is of little consolation to your victim, and I have to take steps to protect her. Your behaviour during this incident was disgraceful."

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Tags: Conservative, Violence, Harassment

Conservative Councillor - Theft

Mr Preest represents the Lydney North Ward of the county council A Gloucestershire county councillor has resigned his position on the county's police authority after accepting a caution for theft. Alan Preest, a Conservative councillor, was arrested on Friday in connection with an incident at a supermarket in Lydney and cautioned. A Gloucestershire Police Authority spokesman said the councillor had resigned with immediate effect. Mr Preest was unavailable for comment on Saturday. He represents the Lydney North Ward of the county council.

Tags: Conservative, Theft

Conservative councillor guilty of rigging election votes

ANOTHER former Peterborough city councillor stood in disgrace yesterday after being found guilty of cheating his way to election victory by forging votes.

Ex-Conservative Abdul Razaq is facing the almost certain prospect of jail after a jury convicted him of setting up a vote-rigging "production line" to guarantee success in the 2004 council elections.

The 52-year-old Peterborough Regional College lecturer becomes the fifth person, and the second former councillor, to be convicted of electoral fraud for interfering with votes in the city's Central ward.

Earlier this year, Mohammed Choudhary, who became Peterborough's first Asian mayor in 1997, was jailed for nine months after he was found guilty of forgery.

Jurors have yet to reach a verdict on Razaq's co-defendant and ex-mayor of Peterborough Raja Akhtar, who denies similar charges.

Razaq's crimes were uncovered after voters in the Central ward complained they had been turned away from polls in June 2004 because their ballots had already been cast by post.

A huge police operation, which was to last four years and cost an estimated £1 million, found the father-of-four's handwriting on 39 applications for postal and proxy votes.

Prosecutors at King's Lynn Crown Court said Razaq had systematically hijacked voters' poll cards.

Jurors were told he filled in the cards so that postal votes would be sent not to the electors themselves, but to the addresses of his own friends and relatives, setting up a fraudulent "production line" to sway the ballot in his favour.

Among his victims were husband and wife Jaswinder Kaur and Gopal Singh, of Russell Street, Peterborough, who denied giving Razaq the authority to fill in their poll cards.

The court also heard from couples Sadhia Yaqub and Parvaiz Akhtar, and Sameem and Nadeem Dar, all of Gladstone Street, who said they had never heard of the addresses where their ballot papers were sent.

Razaq never denied it was his handwriting on the poll cards, but his defence counsel insisted he was merely trying to help people get involved with the electoral process.

Mohammed Latif, defending, said: "The poll cards were brought back to (Razaq) by canvassers or, in other cases, he saw the voters himself.

"He filled in the addresses and gave (the cards) back to the canvassers to be signed by the voters. If that is all that happened, he has done nothing wrong; there is no forgery."

The jury, however, disagreed and found Razaq guilty on six out of eight counts of forgery after nearly 20 hours of deliberation over four days.

Four of the convictions were unanimous verdicts while the remaining two were by majorities of 10 to two. He was cleared of two further forgery charges.

Razaq, of Newark Avenue, Peterborough, showed no emotion as the guilty verdicts were read out.

Judge Alasdair Darroch told him he would almost certainly be sent to prison when he returned to court for sentencing at a later date.

He said: "I have to give you this very clear warning: these sorts of offences almost always result in a custodial sentence."

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Conservative - Gay Sex in Public Toilet

A Conservative councillor in Harrow has appeared in court charged with engaging in sexual activity in a public lavatory.

Robert Benson did not enter a plea at Harrow Magistrates' Court last week.

He has been suspended from the party but remains a councillor.

Council leader David Ashton told the Harrow Observer:

"Firstly, this is a matter for the courts. Secondly, as Conservative group leader, I have suspended Councillor Benson from the group.

"If somebody is charged with a criminal offence, they are suspended as part of our standard procedure."

Mr Benson, 41, is accused of giving oral sex to another man in a public toilet in south Harrow on June 25th.

He was arrested and bailed until July 8th, when he was charged.

A 56-year-old from Essex man was issued with a caution.

Mr Benson's case will be heard on 30th July at Wimbledon Magistrates Court.

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