Monday, March 26, 2007

Labour Councillor - Hygiene

A councillor who 'pleaded poverty' in court owns a £500,000 Victorian home, we can reveal.

Coun Hussain Akhtar, who was accused by a judge of 'concocting a story' to avoid hygiene charges at his food shop, has now been heavily criticised by councillors. The situation emerged after he successfully applied for planning permission to widen the drive at his house in Shear Bank Road, Blackburn.

In November, when he was fined £3,500 with £5,000 costs after admitting two breaches of hygiene regulations, the court was told he was relying on his overdraft. His solicitor told the court that Akhtar's Food Store, Whalley Range, only made a trading profit of £20,000 and his client, who lived above the premises, was making about £200 a week alongside his £5,000 council allowance.

And the solicitor said unwittingly: "As you will appreciate he is not a wealthy man. At the moment any money he has is generated from his overdraft."

But Land Registry documents show that in June 2003 the Shear Brow councillor and his wife Tahzeem paid £365,000 for the large semi-detached house in a sought-after location within a Conservation Area, with a mortgage from the National Westminster Bank.

Last year alone property prices in the town rose by 22 per cent. Coun Akhtar suspended himself from the Labour Party after the hygiene case but was re-admitted into the party's ranks on Blackburn with Darwen Council. After details of Coun Akhtar's house were confirmed, Conservative opposition leader Coun Colin Rigby said: "He pleaded poverty at court. I would suggest that he should examine his conscience.

"Maybe he thinks he can get away with it because he is a politician.

"Because of what he has done he has left himself open to people thinking he has tried to get the sympathy of the court and get a reduced fine."

And former Liberal Democrat leader and planning committee member Coun Paul Browne added: "I think it stinks, he's a bloody hypocrite.

"I am disappointed in him."

Leader of the council, Labour Coun Kate Hollern, said: "I would not call him a hypocrite because I am not in the business of commenting on people's personal circumstances."

When asked about the situation, Coun Akhtar said the home had been bought with money earned over the past 40 years but he was not making as much now. His registered address with the council is in Whalley Range where he lives above the shop, and the Victorian semi-detached home is currently empty and undergoing renovation.

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said it did not appear that any offence had been committed. But he added that solicitors reasonably expected their clients to be completely open about their circumstances. He said that trust was also applied to means forms that are filled in when judging in how many installments someone should pay their court bill.

When contacted Coun Akhtar originally said he had bought the property ten years ago, but when challenged with documents from the Land Registry admitted it was 2003. He said: "It was before the court case in 2006. "We can't afford to improve it. Hopefully in July we will move in."

He said the cost of removing the tree and widening the drive of the property that overlooks Corporation Park was just a few hundred pounds. He said "When it is ready it will be a good house. The family is going to live there with me. When asked about opposition comments he said: "Politicians can speak any language they want.

"I want to live in my ward. I was looking for a house for 40 years. I sold my other two houses."

He said it was common practice for businessmen to use overdraft facilities.

"I am sure that every business is not making enough," he added.

He said in the past 40 years he had made his money but was not making as much now. He added: "I am not complaining but I am having to work twice as hard.

"This is my retirement home. I am community figure. I don't want to speak the politics language - people are going too far with this."

During the court case in at Liverpool magistrates in November District Judge Miriam Shelvey said she found Coun Akhtar had "concocted" a story to try to avoid charges of having cockroaches and rodent droppings in the food shop which he runs.

Coun Akhtar had claimed that the council had given an undertaking not to inspect his store for six months, four months prior to the probe that found the evidence. He could not produce any evidence of this and Judge Shelvey said: "I find that Mr Akhtar has concocted the promise as a way of seeking a stay in the proceedings."

His solicitor Peter Turner said Akhtar was only making about £200 a week from his business and recieved about £5,000 from his council allowance. Mr Turner said: "It's right to say that his business has declined quite substantially over the last few years."

He said Akhtar had financial responsibilty for his two sons and was paying for a £15,000 course for one. Akhtar pleaded guilty after the judge refused to discontinue the case. She said he failed to produce any evidence of his means and that if he had pleaded guilty earlier the costs awarded against him would not have been as high.

http://www.asianimage.co.uk/news/latest/display.var.1250173.0.councillor500_00_house.php

Friday, March 23, 2007

Tory Violence


A Bath councillor has been cautioned by police after a physical assault on a woman civil servant.

Cllr Brian Webber, a Conservative member of Bath and North East Somerset Council representing the city centre Abbey Ward, was acting in his role as treasurer to the Sydney Gardens Bowling Club when he pushed the woman against a wall during a discussion over valuation rates.

According to her husband, the 45-year-old mother-of-two could not move her arm for several hours after the incident and suffered sleepless nights as a result of the pain.
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=163490&command=displaId=163047

(Hat tip; The prolific Barnsley Nationalist)

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Tory/Independant Sex


A West Bromwich councillor who sold his girlfriend for sex to help pay the mortgage is to be sentenced. Alan Birkitt, 48, of Beaconview Road, advertised his girlfriend on the internet.

More than 20 men paid for her services at the couple's home, while Birkitt sat in the room next door. Prosecutor Stuart Clarkson, opening the case at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Monday, said the woman had an IQ of 52 and had mild learning disabilities.

He said men paid her £50 for intercourse and over several months she earned around £1,300.

http://www.24dash.com/localgovernment/18137.htm

According to Sandwell Councils website Birkitt is standing as an independant, however the Daily Mirror if it is to believed are cliaming the piece of human excrement is a former tory

Monday, March 19, 2007

Labour Sex

Gosport councillor Neil Redrup has been charged with sex offences
A councillor has been charged with a string of sexual offences – but has vowed to remain in public life. Gosport councillor Neil Redrup faces a court battle over allegations he set up spy cameras inside his home. Yesterday he was ordered to Gosport Police Station where officers charged him with four counts of voyeurism, one of indecent assault and one of gross indecency.
Pictured is the moment the 45-year-old returned to his home from the station.

He refused to comment on the allegations, but revealed he would not quit. 'Not yet, not until I've been convicted,' he said. 'I'm not giving any comment at all yet.' He will only be thrown off the council if he loses his seat and is sent to prison.

Cllr Redrup has come in for a volley of criticism from fellow councillors. Tory leader Mark Hook said: 'I would have resigned months ago had it been me. 'My fear for him is that should he be found guilty the courts will quite readily make an example of him, because as a councillor he should be upholding everything that is good and up-standing.
http://www.portsmouthtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=2121331&SectionID=458

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Lib Dem Fraud

Standing illegally? Cllr Sera Kentman

A LIBERAL Democrat councillor has been expelled from the party and is at the centre of a police investigation.

Cllr Sera Kentman, who has represented Whitefoot ward in Lewisham since last May, was axed after breaching rules, which included failing to disclose her debts as a councillor.

News Shopper can reveal Ms Kentman is an undischarged bankrupt, who may have stood illegally at last May's elections.

Under Section 80 of the Local Goverment Act 1972, no-one can stand in an election as a councillor if they are an undischarged bankrupt. According to Lewisham Council's Liberal Democrat leader Mark Morris other allegations involving Ms Kentman include:

# A £9,000 overpayment of housing benefit on a house she part owns.

# Outstanding council tax payments back dating over a year.

# Her use of a number of different names. Ms Kentman was temporarily suspended three weeks ago from the party and given time to provide information on her debts and proof of her identity.
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/lewgreennews.1258616.0.councillor_is_bankrupt.php

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Yet More Labour Fraud

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Labour County councillor Olive McIntosh-Stedman has been charged with council tax fraud. Ms McIntosh-Stedman, a county councillor for Cowley and Littlemore since 1997, was charged with two counts of making false council tax benefit claims in 2002.

She has denied all the charges, but has quit the Labour group and is currently sitting as an independent. She will appear before Oxford Crown Court for trial next month. Ms McIntosh-Stedman, 64, of Williamson Way, Rose Hill, Oxford, is a registered nurse with a diploma in women's studies and a degree in publishing.

Last night (Tuesday) she said: "There is a great misunderstanding and all that will be cleared up in due course." Oxford City Council, which is bringing the prosecution, declined to comment on the particulars of the case or reveal how much it was alleged Ms McIntosh-Stedman tried to claim from the authority.

http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.1256516.0.0.php

(Hat Tip: Barnsley Nationalist)

Monday, March 12, 2007

More Labour Fraud

Thanks to an anonymous commenter on my previous post who chips in with "its hasnt come out yet but will over the next few weeks i have had a small hand in this and can tell you it is labour who are implicated and the dirty bastards are up to the neck in it"

Well done friend, keep up the good work and let's screw these bastards even harder

POLICE INVESTIGATE COUNCIL EXPENSES
The fraud squad is investigating allegations that some Stoke-on-Trent city councillors have been fiddling thousands of pounds of expenses. Detectives are ploughing through a dossier which claims to lift the lid on a scam involving at least 12 current or former local politicians.

Some councillors are alleged to have submitted vastly inflated mileage figures to boost their expenses for car, taxi and bus travel. The dossier, which has been seen by The Sentinel, appears to show some councillors claiming double or triple the amount they should for journeys on local authority business.
http://www.thisisthesentinel.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=158315&comntentPK=16857121

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Labour Fraud Lies and general taking the piss

Coun Hussain Akhtar

A councillor who 'pleaded poverty' in court owns a £500,000 Victorian home, the Lancashire Telegraph can reveal.

Coun Hussain Akhtar, who was accused by a judge of 'concocting a story' to avoid hygiene charges at his food shop, has now been heavily criticised by councillors.

The situation emerged after he successfully applied for planning permission to widen the drive at his house in Shear Bank Road, Blackburn.

In November, when he was fined £3,500 with £5,000 costs after admitting two breaches of hygiene regulations, the court was told he was relying on his overdraft.

His solicitor told the court that Akhtar's Food Store, Whalley Range, only made a trading profit of £20,000 and his client, who lived above the premises, was making about £200 a week alongside his £5,000 council allowance.

And the solicitor said unwittingly: "As you will appreciate he is not a wealthy man. At the moment any money he has is generated from his overdraft."

But Land Registry documents show that in June 2003 the Shear Brow councillor and his wife Tahzeem paid £365,000 for the large semi-detached house in a sought-after location within a Conservation Area, with a mortgage from the National Westminster Bank.

Continued

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Lib Dem Murder - Well Nearly

Top councillor resigns amid murder probe

A prominent Scottish Liberal Democrat councillor has resigned after his home was searched and he was questioned in relation to a major murder investigation.

Raymond Hutcheon, 50, who at one time lived with a prostitute and was spoken to by police for kerb crawling, was a member of a Holyrood adult entertainment working group, as well as holding key posts on Aberdeen City Council.

He was also a member of Grampian Joint Police Board and Aberdeen City Council's standards and scrutiny committee, which has a remit to ensure "absolute probity".

Mr Hutcheon's house was searched on Monday in connection with the investigation into the death of 57-year-old Ronald Mair, whose body was found bound and gagged in a cupboard of his home in Kettlehills Crescent, Aberdeen, last month.

Mr Mair's lifestyle was linked to drugs and prostitution. Three people have since been charged with his murder. On Monday, Stephen Rankin, 32, of Darvel, Ayrshire, appeared in court on a murder charge and yesterday Derek Carswell, 40, of Dreghorn, by Irvine, and Jane McBurnie, 17, of Thetford, Norfolk, appeared on petition at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on murder and other charges.

Continued

Update

A FORMER councillor, who was a member of a Scottish government think tank looking into the sex industry, admitted that he used the services of prostitutes who also supplied him with crack cocaine, it was reported yesterday.
Raymond Hutcheon has been in the spotlight since it was revealed that he was connected to prostitutes who were supplied by murdered drug dealer Bob Mair.

The allegations first surfaced in March, when police investigating Mr Mair's murder searched the councillor's Aberdeen home, Corsehill Croft, for leads. Mr Hutcheon stepped down from his post as a councillor "for personal reasons" during the police inquiry.

Now, according to a Sunday newspaper, it has emerged that he confessed to his drug use and relationship with four prostitutes in police interviews with detectives investigating the murder.

Mr Hutcheon, who was a councillor for 20 years before stepping down earlier this year, was a member of Aberdeen Council's Standards and Scrutiny committee and sat on Grampian Joint Police Board and a sub-committee on drugs and alcohol.

In 2002 he was forced to stand down as a governor at Oakbank School in Aberdeen after it was revealed that he had a live-in relationship with a former prostitute, Vicky Sneddon.

According to the leaked transcripts reported yesterday he told officers that he had first had a relationship with another prostitute, Nicola Stewart, who had a heroin addiction. "On our initial meeting I secured her services as a prostitute," he said.

The affair lasted six months and he then met Ms Sneddon, who he claimed introduced him to crack cocaine.

In 2005 he picked up Kerry Stirton and told police: "Kerry was a crack abuser and sourced crack for her and me. I gave her money for crack every few days, about £50 to £100 per time."

Source