Ex-council leader Warren Bradley fined for perjury

A former Liberal Democrat council leader today admitted committing perjury following a police investigation into electoral fraud allegations.

Ex-Liberal Democrat leader of Liverpool City Council Warren Bradley pleaded guilty to one count of perjury at Liverpool Magistrates' Court and was ordered by District Judge Miriam Shelvey to pay a £1,000 fine, £75 in costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

It follows a 10-month police investigation into how his son, Daniel, came to be nominated to stand in last year's local elections.

Bradley signed Daniel's nomination form to stand in the May 5 contest as a witness although his son was not present and had not yet signed the form agreeing to put himself forward as a candidate.

The 19-year-old subsequently claimed that his signature was a "fake" and that he did not want to stand.

Section 5 of the Perjury Act forbids any person from making a false statutory declaration.

The serving firefighter and councillor for Liverpool's Wavertree ward today admitted signing the consent of nomination form as a witness when his son was not present.

It also emerged today that Bradley's mother, Pam, had been cautioned by police for forging Daniel's signature.

But Bradley's lawyer, James Murray, denied that his client's teenage son had been put forward as a candidate without his knowledge and claimed that Daniel's statement to police came in the midst of an "acrimonious divorce" between Bradley and his wife, Pauline.

PA