Former Labour councillor jailed for electoral fraud in 2018 elections

The Yellow Advertiser reports:

A former councillor has been jailed and ordered to pay more than £28,000 back to Redbridge Council after committing electoral fraud.

Chaudhary Mohammed Iqbal, who was a Labour councillor for Loxford for more than two years, admitted in October that he gave a false address when applying to be councillor and later lied to the police.

He was today jailed for 68 weeks and must pay back £18,368 he received in expenses and £10,000 towards the cost of the by-election to replace him.

Iqbal, who actually lived in Cecil Avenue, Barking, at the time, pretended to live at a rental property in Ilford in order to run as a Redbridge councillor in the 2018 local elections.

He has also been banned from running for public office for five years.