Reform UK confirms new Leicestershire County Council deputy
Crook has also been appointed to lead the council's new heritage, libraries and adult learning portfolio. Council leader Dan Harrison said: "We're a new administration, in place for around three months, and finding the right people for the job is very important."I'd like to thank Joseph for his efforts and helping to establish our new team."Adult social care deserves its own focus and I'm delighted to welcome Carl to the cabinet."Kevin brings a lot of experience and I'm pleased he's joining our leadership team."
'Chaotic and costly'
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Boam previously said he had not "stepped down from any role", but had been offered "a cabinet support role which I'm inclined to take".The reason for Boam's departure has not been confirmed by Reform UK, but a party source previously said he would now be taking on an unspecified "new role".Posting on social media on Sunday, Boam said: "Despite the recent news, nothing's changed, I'll keep fighting for Whitwick at County Hall and doing everything I can to help get a Reform UK government and Nigel Farage as our next prime minister."The Leicestershire Conservative group - the main opposition on the authority - has now branded Reform UK's local leadership a "shambles".Michael Mullaney, leader of the Liberal Democrat group at the authority, said: "This Reform cabinet reshuffle so soon after they took office has been chaotic and costly for the people of Leicestershire at a time when they need effective leadership from the county council."
Additional reporting by Hannah Richardson, Local Democracy Reporting Service
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He was handed a 21-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, and also given a 10-year restraining order. The woman revealed in a statement she was badly affected by Ashbrook's behaviour that she doubted if she would 'even be here today' were it not for her family's help. Mansoor Khan, who was found with more than 100 'abhorrent and perverted' images of children on his mobile, avoided jail at a sentencing in 2023. Instead he was given an eight-month prison term, suspended for two years. The top NHS consultant, who was a father of four and coached a girls' rugby team, was described as a 'pillar of society' before the revelations. He downloaded an anonymous browser and accessed sites on the dark web to download dozens of 'the most revolting' photos of children as young as two, a court heard. When police followed a digital trail from a Snapchat account and arrested him, the 54-year-old father of four claimed he wanted to protect his children from what they might find and was doing his 'parental responsibility' in accessing the dark web. Rapist Nikhil Chopra pleaded guilty to sexual assault and indecent exposure but was only handed an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years in 2024. He was arrested by police after officers received reports of the assault in Swindon in September 2023. Members of the public got in contact with the force after they became concerned for the woman's safety. The sex offender was instead ordered to complete 55 days of rehabilitation, 43 days in a sex-offending programme and told to pay a £187 victim surcharge. Connolly's imprisonment had prompted allegations that she was a victim of 'two-tier justice', with claims that those with Right-wing views are treated more harshly than others in the UK. Sir Keir Starmer supported her conviction but it later emerged he had previously argued people who deleted offensive posts quickly should not necessarily face criminal action. He said at the time: 'I will always support the action taken by our police and courts to keep our streets and people safe.' But 11 years prior, while director of public prosecutions he advocated a more lenient approach for those who showed 'genuine remorse' and took social media statements down swiftly. He encouraged prosecutors to consider four factors where 'a prosecution is unlikely to be both necessary and proportionate'. This included if 'swift and effective action has been taken by the suspect and/or others, for example service providers, to remove the communication in question or otherwise block access to it'. He added that his list was 'not exhaustive'. In guidance repeared nearly verbatim in the most recent version available to prosecutors, Starmer said: 'There's a lot of stuff out there that is highly offensive that is put out on a spontaneous basis that is quite often taken down pretty quickly, and the view is that those sort of remarks don't necessarily need to be prosecuted. 'This is not a get out of jail card, but it is highly relevant. Stuff does go up on a Friday and Saturday night and come down the next morning. 'Now if that is the case a lot of people will say that shouldn't have happened, the person has accepted it, but really you don't need a criminal prosecution. It is a relevant factor.' Connolly was arrested on August 6, by which point she had deleted her social media account. But other messages which included other damning remarks were uncovered by officers who seized her phone. The Southport atrocity sparked nationwide unrest, with several people - including Connolly - jailed as a result. Her tweet was viewed 310,000 times in three-and-a-half hours before she deleted it. She later pleaded guilty to distributing material with the intention of stirring up racial hatred at Birmingham Crown Court and was sentenced to 31 months in prison in October. In May, she had an appeal against her sentence refused by three Court of Appeal judges at the Royal Courts of Justice. In a written judgement, Lord Justice Holroyde said: 'There is no arguable basis on which it could be said that the sentence imposed by the judge was manifestly excessive. 'The application for leave to appeal against sentence therefore fails and is refused.' He added that the principal ground of appeal 'was substantially based on a version of events put forward by the applicant which we have rejected'. Connolly argued she had been 'really angry' after the Southport attacks, but hours after posting the rant on X realised it was not an acceptable thing to say, so deleted it. She also said that news of the Southport murders had triggered her anxiety from when her baby son, Harry, died as the result of a hospital blunder 13 years earlier. At her appeal case, Adam King, representing Connolly, asked if she had intended for anyone to set fire to asylum hotels or 'murder any politicians'. She replied: 'Absolutely not.' Naeem Valli, for the prosecution, told the court the post was a reflection of her attitude towards immigrants. Connolly's case later became international news, with US officials saying earlier this year they are keeping tabs on developments over their 'concerns' about free speech. A State Department spokesman said in May: 'We can confirm that we are monitoring this matter. The United States supports freedom of expression at home and abroad, and remains concerned about infringements on freedom of expression.'
