Former Tory PPC for Watford receives suspended prison sentence for hate campaign
Written by The Voice on 13th October 2008 – 7:42 pmReaders of Lib Dem Voice will well recall the story of Ian Oakely, the Conservative candidate for Watford and Hillingdon councillor*, who appeared in court and pleaded guilty in August to five charges of criminal damage and two of harrasment - LDV covered it here, and Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Watford Sal Brinton wrote about it here.
Mr Oakley today appeared before Central Herts Magistrates Court in St Albans, where he received an 18-week jail sentence suspended for 12 months. The BBC.co.uk report gives further details:
At August’s hearing the court heard Oakley had terrorised Liberal Democrat rivals Sal Brinton and Russell Willson. He sent them hate mail, made silent phone calls, and daubed graffiti on Mr Willson’s house.
Sentencing Oakley, chairman of magistrates Barry Northrop said: “Your offences are quite seriously aggravated by a number of factors. They were planned, and you clearly ignored the very obvious distress that would be caused to the victims and others who became involved in your campaign of harassment.”
The court heard Oakley sent gay and lesbian magazines to Ms Brinton’s home and work and made silent late-night phone calls to her. Oakley also daubed graffiti across Liberal Democrat headquarters in Watford, and slashed tyres of local councillors’ cars. His campaign against Mr Willson from February to May this year included sending letters to him and supporters claiming he was a member of a child abuse ring.
The court heard Oakley was caught out when his fingerprints were found on several items in the case.
Mr Northrop described some of Oakley’s abuse as “vile” and said it was a deliberate attempt to “subvert the democratic process”. He said he had taken psychiatric problems revealed by pre-sentence reports into account, as well as Oakley’s early guilty plea and his remorse.
* Mr Oakley resigned as Tory PPC for Watford following his arrest; he continued to serve as a councillor.
Update (14/10/08): the Watford Observer also covers the story, and includes a short CCTV clip of Oakley spray painting LibDem candidate Russell Willson’s wall with ‘Scum Perv Scum’. The CCTV was installed by the Lib Dems at a number of victims’ homes, at their own expense.
Posted in Opposition watch
13th October 2008 at 9:01 pm
Justice?
I look forward to hearing the Tory ‘hang em & flog em’, brigade call for a harsher punishment on this one …………… I’m waiting……..
13th October 2008 at 10:18 pm
He did NOT resign from being a Hillingdon Councillor after his arrest. He has remained a councillor all along. In fact he remained being paid an additional £20k a year as chairman of the residents overview committee until a few weeks ago
13th October 2008 at 10:35 pm
Think his tenure as a Hillingdon Councillor is finally over - the Hillingdon Council website tonight :
“Hillingdon Council statement: sentencing of Cllr Ian Oakley
Ian Oakley will no longer be a councillor in Hillingdon with immediate effect.
“The council takes any cases of harassment or criminal damage very seriously, and in particular the distress caused to the victims.
“This sentence sends a strong message to all those in public office about the behaviour expected of them and of the consequences they may face if they do not behave in an appropriate way.”
13th October 2008 at 11:21 pm
He will have been disqualified from the Council because the sentence was over 3 months
14th October 2008 at 9:09 am
Have amended the story ref Oakley continuing as a councillor. Also have updated with coverage from the Watford Observer.
14th October 2008 at 12:07 pm
“He will have been disqualified from the Council because the sentence was over 3 months”
I think it’s “three months or over”.
A pedant of Winewall
14th October 2008 at 4:08 pm
No Tories? Thought not…… go on surprise me!!
15th October 2008 at 11:55 am
Oooh. My, what can I say. How spiffingly awful. I think we can clearly say that he was not a real Tory all along. He’s clearly some undercover Liberal Donut thingy who’s been waiting to pour scandal on our glorious ressurection under the leadership of our wonderful Leader Michael Aschroft.
(okay… it’s really Neale
17th October 2008 at 10:21 pm
Difficult to see why the sentence was suspended. I’m a former Probation Officer, and know from experience that suspended sentences were all but abolished in the 1990s except for the most exceptional circumstances - usually severe illness, old age, infirmity, etc. Possibly it was because of past history of mental illness. Does anyone know?