AN ex-councillor appeared in the dock today to deny fixing an election win.
Mohammed Hussain, 61, of Logwood Street, Blackburn, pleaded not guilty at Preston Crown Court to conspiracy to defraud in the Bastwell election in May, 2002.
Four others - Ghulam Haji, 62, of Earl Street; Mohammed Tufail, 26, of Whalley Street; Nabeela Haji, 23, of Whalley Street, and Tasneem Shahzad, 28, of Whalley New Road, all from Blackburn - also pleaded not guilty to the same charge.
All five were charged with defrauding the returning officer of Blackburn with Darwen Council, Phil Watson, by dishonestly causing and permitting falsely completed postal ballot papers and accompanying declarations of identity to be falsely submitted in a local government election. They face a two-week trial starting February 28.
Mohammed Hussain won the seat with a 865 majority over Tory challenger Hamid Khan. He was arrested a year later and soon after left the Labour Party to become an independent. He did not put himself up for re-election this year.
All five were granted unconditional bail.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article