Labour's Charlotte Zosseder blasts character refererees for convicted sex pest and former Dover MP Charlie Elphicke
15:07, 10 December 2020
updated: 16:09, 10 December 2020
Labour has condemned the character referees for convicted sex offender Charlie Elphicke for not acknowledging his victims.
A judge yesterday ruled that the references could be made public although with most of the 34 writers' names undisclosed.
Elphicke, former Dover MP, was jailed for two years in September after being convicted on three counts of sexual assault.
The references were written in the run-up to his sentencing on September 15 and after his conviction on July 30.
Charlotte Zosseder, Dover district councillor and Kent County Council candidate for next year’s elections, said: “I am absolutely appalled that these people are falling over themselves to praise a man they knew to be a convicted sex offender, without the slightest thought for the women he attacked.
"Elphicke’s disgusting behaviour cannot be excused in any way, and all 34 of them have utterly demeaned themselves by pleading for special treatment for him. His victims didn’t get ‘special treatment’: they got sexually assaulted.”
Dover and Deal Labour party stressed that none of the 34 mentioned the victims.
It added that Elphicke's pending appeal against the sentence, and total absence of apology to his victims, suggests that he is not sorry.
Elphicke, 49, was convicted at Southwark Crown Court on three counts of assault against two women, during which he was alleged to have described himself as “a naughty Tory.”
One offence was against a woman in 2007 and two were against another woman in 2016.
Those providing the character references included former Conservative cabinet minister and ex-South Thanet MP Jonathan Aitken,
He was himself jailed in 1999 after admitting perjury and perverting the course of justice.
Others included Catholic Fr Jeff Cridland, of St Paul's RC Church in Dover, David Foley, chief executive of Dover District Chamber of Commerce, Nigel Collor, town, district and county councillor in Dover and Neil Wiggins, community director at Dover Harbour Board.
Character references were mentioned in the trial by defence counsel Ian Winter QC.
But their contents, some redacted, were not disclosed until yesterday when Mrs Justice Whipple agreed to a representation by the media to have them released.
She was the judge who had sentenced Elphicke in September.
The identities of some of the writers were also allowed to be revealed, mainly public figures but not private individuals.
The judge ruled that 21 people could not be identified as it would achieve little and cause them some harm.
The identity of one individual was kept private on health grounds.
Elphicke's estranged wife Natalie had been one of a group of MPs who campaigned for the statements from members of the public not to be publicised.
Mrs Elphicke, his replacement as MP for Dover and Deal, said today: “I am appalled at the way the basic rights of many of my constituents have been ridden roughshod over by the court.
"Character references are a normal part of the sentencing process and the people who gave them did so in good faith in order to assist the court.
“Today is Human Rights Day.
"The Labour Party likes to shout about privacy and human rights when it comes to terrorists, murderers and other countries but have shown time and again that they just don’t care about basic rights and liberties of people in our own country and community.
“Privacy, the right to family life and a fair trial, these exist to protect everyone in our country, not just the people who you like or agree with.
“I shall continue working in Parliament, with other Parliamentarians, to represent the rights of my constituents and the British people as a whole on these important issues."
