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| Police commissioner candidate withdraws over teenage £5 fine | Police commissioner candidate withdraws over teenage £5 fine |
| (4 months later) | |
| A Labour candidate for a police and crime commissioner position says he has been forced to stand down because of a £5 fine for a minor offence committed in his teens. | A Labour candidate for a police and crime commissioner position says he has been forced to stand down because of a £5 fine for a minor offence committed in his teens. |
| Phil Dilks said it was farcical that a "schoolboy prank" in 1968 should bar him from serving the community in Lincolnshire more than 40 years later. | Phil Dilks said it was farcical that a "schoolboy prank" in 1968 should bar him from serving the community in Lincolnshire more than 40 years later. |
| His decision follows a case last month in which a Labour candidate in Derbyshire gave up his candidacy over a conviction dating back almost half a century – only to be reinstated when it turned out that the conditional discharge he received would not block him from standing. | His decision follows a case last month in which a Labour candidate in Derbyshire gave up his candidacy over a conviction dating back almost half a century – only to be reinstated when it turned out that the conditional discharge he received would not block him from standing. |
| Dilks was 16 when he and a group of friends on scooters visited a friend in hospital. On leaving, one of his friends took someone else's crash helmet. The helmet was later found in Dilks's garage and he was charged with receiving stolen goods, pleaded guilty and was fined £5. | Dilks was 16 when he and a group of friends on scooters visited a friend in hospital. On leaving, one of his friends took someone else's crash helmet. The helmet was later found in Dilks's garage and he was charged with receiving stolen goods, pleaded guilty and was fined £5. |
| Despite having served for 20 years in the Territorial Army, for 17 years as a councillor in Lincolnshire and eight years as a member of the county's police authority, Dilks said he had received legal advice that the conviction meant he could not stand as a commissioner. | Despite having served for 20 years in the Territorial Army, for 17 years as a councillor in Lincolnshire and eight years as a member of the county's police authority, Dilks said he had received legal advice that the conviction meant he could not stand as a commissioner. |
| "I have now received legal guidance, and following further clarifications from the Home Office and the Electoral Commission, it has become clear that because of what happened more than four decades ago, I must now step down as a prospective candidate in these elections," he said in a statement. "I'm advised that it is unlikely case records still exist. But it would not be honest of me to pretend it never happened. | "I have now received legal guidance, and following further clarifications from the Home Office and the Electoral Commission, it has become clear that because of what happened more than four decades ago, I must now step down as a prospective candidate in these elections," he said in a statement. "I'm advised that it is unlikely case records still exist. But it would not be honest of me to pretend it never happened. |
| "As an adult, I've always believed in public service and worked to uphold the law as fair and just … I'm deeply disappointed at not being able to stand for election to this new role to help make Lincolnshire a safer and better place to live. But I trust those who know me will judge me on my work over a lifetime rather than what resulted in a £5 fine in the 1960s." | "As an adult, I've always believed in public service and worked to uphold the law as fair and just … I'm deeply disappointed at not being able to stand for election to this new role to help make Lincolnshire a safer and better place to live. But I trust those who know me will judge me on my work over a lifetime rather than what resulted in a £5 fine in the 1960s." |
| Dilks told the Press Association: "In order to stand, I would have had to sign a nomination form saying that this offence didn't exist. I can't do that." | Dilks told the Press Association: "In order to stand, I would have had to sign a nomination form saying that this offence didn't exist. I can't do that." |
| He said he had raised concerns with the Home Office about the decision to hold the PCC elections in November and not to grant candidates a free mailshot to voters. | He said he had raised concerns with the Home Office about the decision to hold the PCC elections in November and not to grant candidates a free mailshot to voters. |
| "What worries me is that whoever gets this post – in Lincolnshire and across the country – is going to need the confidence of the people behind them, and because of the farcical nature of the process, I fear the turnout is going to be extraordinarily low and they are not going to get the mandate they need," he said. | "What worries me is that whoever gets this post – in Lincolnshire and across the country – is going to need the confidence of the people behind them, and because of the farcical nature of the process, I fear the turnout is going to be extraordinarily low and they are not going to get the mandate they need," he said. |
| Earlier this year, the Falklands War veteran Simon Weston pulled out of standing for the PCC job in south Wales after questions were raised over a criminal conviction when he was 14. | Earlier this year, the Falklands War veteran Simon Weston pulled out of standing for the PCC job in south Wales after questions were raised over a criminal conviction when he was 14. |
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