Six Convicted in Election Fraud
24/03/2009
Charles Miskin QC and Gareth Branston recently finished a successful prosecution on behalf of the Special Crime Division of the CPS following widespread election fraud in Slough during the local elections of 2007.
The Tory candidate in that election, Eshaq Khan, together with a team of supporters took part in a concerted effort to “stuff” the electoral roll with false names and then to cast, on behalf of these ghosts, several hundred votes, thereby securing the election for the Conservatives. When the Labour Party petitioned the High Court to overturn this result, Eshaq Khan and his team exacerbated their criminality by creating false documents and false statements in order to try and prove the veracity of the ghost votes. They also told lies on oath in the High Court hearing.
Late on in criminal proceedings, Eshaq Khan and two colleagues pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the returning officer and offences of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice or perjury. Three of Mr. Khan’s associates were then found guilty of a mixture of these offences after a six week trial in Reading Crown Court.
This case follows a number of other high profile cases of election fraud in Peterborough, Bradford and Birmingham. However, this case appears to be the first in which efforts have been made by the conspirators to lie and cover up their wrongdoing during an election petition in the High Court.
Link to BBC news