Pro-Brexit campaigner wins appeal against £20,000 fine for breaching referendum spending rules

Darren Grimes was fined by the Electoral Commission last year

Pro-Brexit campaigner Darren Grimes has successfully overturned a £20,000 fine imposed by the elections watchdog for breaching spending rules during the referendum campaign.

Mr Grimes was fined by the Electoral Commission last year after he was accused of making false declarations relating to a £675,000 donation to his campaign group BeLeave from the main Vote Leave campaign.

The row centres on whether this donation breached strict spending rules governing elections, aimed at ensuring a level playing field for different parties.

The Electoral Commission found that BeLeave "spent more than £675,000 with (Canadian data firm) Aggregate IQ under a common plan with Vote Leave", which took Vote Leave over its £7m legal spending limit.

It concluded that Vote Leave and BeLeave had coordinated their spending and fined both groups. Vote Leave originally appealed the decision but later withdrew its appeal and paid the fine.

In a two-hour judgement, Judge Marc Dight said the commission had set too high a threshold for determining whether BeLeave had been correctly registered by Mr Grimes on official forms.

Mr Grimes, a former fashion student originally from County Durham, said that he had intended to register BeLeave and not himself as an individual on the forms.

His lawyers said he had filled out the complex and difficult-to-understand forms to the best of his ability.

Even if the group BeLeave did not have a formal constitution by January 2016, it was clear it was made up of like-minded people who had an agreement to campaign over the Brexit issue in a certain way, according to Judge Dight.

After the ruling, Mr Grimes said: "I am delighted and relieved that the court has found me innocent.

"This case has taken a huge toll on myself and my family, and I'm thankful it's now over. I will be eternally grateful to all those people who have supported me - your generosity and kind words of encouragement have kept me going."

The Electoral Commission said it was "disappointed" that the court had upheld Mr Grimes' appeal.

It added: "We will now review the full detail of the judgment before deciding on next steps, including any appeal."

The effect of Judge Marc Dight's ruling is that the order against Mr Grimes is quashed and the commission will have to pay his costs, according to Mr Grimes's lawyer, Timothy Straker QC.