Another Police Commissioner candidate bites the dust over old conviction
Jonathan Calder has the full story (which isn’t quite as straight forward as appears at first sight) of the latest Police Commissioner candidate to bite the dust because they have a conviction:
Lee Barron, Labour’s PCC candidate for Northamptonshire, forced to withdraw…
As Top of the Cops points out, the report goes on to offer contradictory accounts of when Barron’s conviction came to light.
On the one hand:
The Chron understands Mr Barron informed the Labour Party of the incident before he was selected.
On the other:A Labour spokesman said: “We are disappointed to learn from Lee today he has a previous conviction which bars him from standing as a candidate.
Has the Lab candidate compounded his error by committing another criminal offence of making a false statement claiming to be a qualified candidate?
Surely he is only guilty of making a false statement, if it was done knowingly or he was reckless in not checking if his conviction disqualified him; actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea – the act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is also guilty.