This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6159006.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Ex-mayor jailed for voter fraud | Ex-mayor jailed for voter fraud |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A former DUP mayor of Coleraine has been jailed for four months for electoral fraud. | A former DUP mayor of Coleraine has been jailed for four months for electoral fraud. |
| Disgraced councillor Dessie Stewart had admitted pretending to be someone else to cast postal votes, and fraudulently stopping free exercise of a proxy vote. | Disgraced councillor Dessie Stewart had admitted pretending to be someone else to cast postal votes, and fraudulently stopping free exercise of a proxy vote. |
| The charges related to the last general and local government elections, which were held on the same day in May 2005. | The charges related to the last general and local government elections, which were held on the same day in May 2005. |
| The court heard Stewart impersonated residents in a nursing home in Portrush by using their postal votes. | The court heard Stewart impersonated residents in a nursing home in Portrush by using their postal votes. |
| The irregularity was discovered during the election count in Londonderry and the votes were not counted. | The irregularity was discovered during the election count in Londonderry and the votes were not counted. |
| He was sentenced on Friday at Antrim Crown Court sitting in Newry. | He was sentenced on Friday at Antrim Crown Court sitting in Newry. |
| Stewart, 57, of Parker Avenue in Coleraine, was also banned for five years from holding public office, contesting elections and voting. | Stewart, 57, of Parker Avenue in Coleraine, was also banned for five years from holding public office, contesting elections and voting. |
| A councillor since 1989, Stewart had been re-elected to Coleraine Borough Council with 773 votes. | A councillor since 1989, Stewart had been re-elected to Coleraine Borough Council with 773 votes. |
| He is a democrat who, through a moment of human weakness and naive folly had betrayed the democracy he espoused Stewart's lawyer After his conviction, he resigned from the DUP and the council. | |
| Describing him as a "broken man who has lost everything", Stewart's lawyer called his action "a spontaneous and absolute moment of madness". | |
| The investigation began at the Guildhall in Derry when postal votes for the East Londonderry constituency were being counted. | |
| It was noticed that 15 papers were filled in the same handwriting and signed by the same person. They all related to residents of the Tieve Tara Nursing Home in Landsdowne Crescent, Portrush. | |
| This was drawn to the attention of the deputy returning officer and police were soon called in. | |
| They found that Stewart had called at the same home five days earlier. He discovered the owner was on holiday and that postal votes had not yet been handed out. | |
| His trial was told he demanded the ballots from a member of staff, saying, "this is how it's going to be done from now on. Everyone has the right to vote." | |
| She told the police his manner had been overbearing and that she had given them to him because he was a councillor and would know best. | |
| The next day, the owner of the nursing home returned from holidays and demanded Stewart give back the ballot papers, but he refused. | |
| None of the residents had ever seen or signed any of the papers and, through his lawyer in court on Friday, Stewart apologised to them and to the staff. | |
| A defence lawyer said his client was "a democrat who, through a moment of human weakness and naive folly had betrayed the democracy he espoused". | |
| He said the 15 votes had not been counted, nor would they have had any impact on the result of either the local election of the general election where Stewart's then-colleague Gregory Campbell was standing. | |
| However, he acknowledged that at least some of the voters would have voted a different way, given the choice. |