2006 Local Election Controversy
Grell was elected in the May 2006 local elections for the Leyton ward of Waltham Forest. In a close result, Grell won by 28 votes, but gained the seat via an unexpectedly large swing from the Liberal Democrats in a split result. However, in September 2007, she went on trial on charges under the Representation of the People Act 1983 of making a false statement of fact about a candidate's personal character or conduct for electoral advantage, specifically that she made allegations of paedophilia against her gay Liberal Democrat opponent, Barry Smith. In addition to losing his seat Smith was verbally abused in the street, spat at and was forced to relocate to the North of England as a result of the false allegations, fearing for his life.
Witnesses against Grell included a Labour voter and also another Labour candidate for her ward, Nicholas Russell. Grell admitted to outing her opponent and falsely claiming he had a 19-year-old Thai boyfriend (his partner was actually 39 and Malaysian), though she denied making the false allegations of paedophilia to four residents. On 21 September 2007, she was found guilty on two counts fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 towards the prosecution costs.
Read more about this topic: Miranda Grell
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