Update: 10 July 2014 – It’s just been announced that Michael Mates has been given a public apology and substantial damages by the Crown Prosecution Service after being wrongly accused of electoral fraud during the PCC elections (read).
Channel4 News journalist Michael Crick is today reporting that one of the candidates for the role of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner has asked the Police to investigate another candidate for what he claims is a breach of the 2006 Fraud Act.
Don Jerrard, who is a retired senior partner of an International law firm and it standing as Justice and Anti-Corruption candidate, has called upon the Constabulary’s Chief Constable, Alex Marshall, to investigate whether fellow candidate, Michael Mates, has committed fraud “by adding his name to the electoral register at a house in Winchester, Hampshire.”
All candidates have to be resident in the area they are standing, but Mr Jerrad claims that Michael Mates was not, according to the law.
Switched from West Sussex to Hampshire
He says that Michael Mates, who until April 2012 was registered on the electoral roll in West Sussex, switched to the Hampshire electoral roll after renting rooms in a Winchester property. He claims that Mr Mates does not live there ‘properly’.
Channel4 claim that in the letter sent Alex Marshall, Jerrard alleges Michael Mates “made a false representation on 24 April 2012 by implying that he had moved to an address in Winchester so that he could be on the electoral roll in Hampshire in order to satisfy one of the requirements to be a candidate.”
He said, “In my opinion that will constitute an offence under section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.”
Read the article in full over on the Channel4 Blog
