Warrington Borough Council leader Russ Bowden's trial begins

Cllr Bowden is on trial after being accused of electoral malpractice.

He denies three charges of providing false information for a purpose connected with the registration of electors and one of permitting a false statement to be furnished to a returning officer at an election.

The first day of the trial was heard before Liverpool Crown Court today, Tuesday, where it was heard that the 53-year-old has ‘broken the laws that underpin’ democracy.

In the UK, every person who stands for council has to submit nomination papers to the acting deputy returning offer.

The trial heard that ahead of the May 2021 local government elections in Warrington, Cllr Bowden handed his nomination papers in on April 6, 2021, to the electoral services manager for Warrington Borough Council.

Liverpool Crown Court

The nomination form is split into a number of sections including the name of the candidate, the ward and the elections, their political party affiliation and their home address.

Within this, Cllr Bowden declared his home address on Applecross Close in Birchwood – which would have placed him inside the ward he sought to represent.

Ms Griffin said: “The prosecution say that the reason that Mr Bowden falsely provided his home address as  Applecross Close, Birchwood, and not Lulworth Place, Lower Walton, was to gain a political advantage - so that the electors in the Birchwood ward on learning of his home address, at the very least from the voting card, would consider him to be a ‘local man’ who lived in their own ward.”

Liverpool Crown Court was told that after the local election, the council received information that Cllr Bowden was allegedly not living at the Birchwood address even though he had registered to vote there.

As a result, an investigation was carried out by council officials and council tax records were checked.

It was discovered that records showed that the sole resident of the Birchwood address was Cllr Bowden’s estranged wife – who was in receipt of Singe Person’s Council Tax Discount and had been since October 2019.

The records also showed that Bowden had moved out of the Applecross Close address in June 2019 and that he had phoned the council himself to set up his own council tax payment on another property, Lulworth Place, Lower Walton, where he also claimed Single Person’s Council Tax Discount.

The police then became involved and the investigation continued. They discovered a letter that had been sent to the defendant at the Birchwood address which had been returned to the sender and noted ‘RTS not at this address’.

Ms Griffin said: “The police also found a recorded telephone call that the defendant had made to them in December 2020, in which he had stated that his address was Lulworth Place.

Officers attended the Birchwood address to carry out rudimentary checks of the property and also spoke to a neighbour who said she recalls Cllr Bowden and his wife splitting up in around 2018. She also said had only seen him at the address on about three occasions since they split up.

Ms Griffin added: "Police recalled that the defendant had been spoken to previously, in September 2020, about whether someone else had used the correct home address or not.

"The crown says that this is significant because it demonstrates that he was aware of how important it is to make an honest declaration about your address and also because at the time the home address he provided was Lulworth Place."

The trial continues.