Latest news with #perjury
BBC News
a day ago
- General
- BBC News
Ex-Police Scotland officer cleared of perjury in tribunal
A former police inspector has been cleared of perjury over evidence he gave at an employment tribunal which found there was an "absolute boys' club" in a Police Scotland firearms Warhurst was found guilty of behaving in an abusive manner by making a derogatory comment about a colleague's partner, who was pregnant, in 2017 and not guilty of sharing indecent images of topless women to a WhatsApp perjury charge was not proven and Mr Warhurst was given an absolute discharge, meaning no punishment will be Derek O'Carroll said the charge Mr Warhurst has been found guilty of "would not have found its way into this court" had it not been for the perjury charge. Sheriff O'Carroll also said it was "important to bear in mind the remorse which has been expressed by the accused".Mr Warhurst, who has since left the force, gave evidence at an employment tribunal in 2021 which found that a female officer was victimised after raising concerns about a sexist the email, Mr Warhurst said two female firearms officers should not be deployed together when there were sufficient males on duty. The case brought by Rhona Malone found evidence of a "boys' club" culture in Police Scotland's firearms unit and a settlement was reached in which Ms Malone was paid nearly £1m by the Warhurst gave evidence at this tribunal, and the charges against him in the perjury trial stated that he had denied having made a derogatory remark about a colleague's partner or having sent indecent images when he knew he the trial, Mr Warhurst admitted to making a remark but claimed that he did not lie to the tribunal at the time because he did not remember making the comment. He also later apologised to the colleague. Fellow former firearms officer Richard Creanor told Edinburgh Sheriff Court that he witnessed Mr Warhurst make the remark in Creanor said that fellow officer John Morgan had told several colleagues in a shared office that his partner had discovered she was told them he took the previous day off work to go to a hospital appointment with her because she initially believed she had a Creanor claimed that Keith Warhurst then swore and said the woman must be fat "if she didn't realise she was pregnant".The jury found Mr Warhurst guilty of this charge, but cleared him of the related and more serious perjury charge. No recollection of sending pictures After the verdict and when granting the absolute discharge, Sheriff O'Carroll remarked that Mr Warhurst had since apologised to Mr Morgan for his comments and expressed remorse, which is "another relevant matter which the court is required to take into account".During the trial, Mr Warhurst said he had no recollection of sending pictures of topless women to a WhatsApp Warhurst's perjury charge was found to be not proven by the jury, meaning he has been cleared of the absolute discharge means that no punishment will be given to Mr Warhurst.
South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
Student flees to China after being charged with voting illegally in Michigan
A Chinese national who was charged with voting illegally in Michigan last fall has fled the US, federal authorities said on Friday. Advertisement The man, who is not a US citizen, had surrendered his Chinese passport in November and was told not to leave Michigan. But he travelled to China from Detroit in January by showing another passport, the FBI said in a court filing. An arrest warrant was issued in April after he failed to appear at two court hearings in Ann Arbor, where he had been a student at the University of Michigan. He was facing charges of perjury and attempting to vote as an unauthorised elector, a felony. Only citizens can vote in federal elections, and every voter must attest to US citizenship when registering. The student was accused of lying about his citizenship when he registered to vote and then casting a ballot during an early voting period. He now faces a federal charge, though the US does not have an extradition treaty with China. Advertisement
Associated Press
6 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
US says student fled to China after being charged with voting illegally in Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A Chinese national who was charged with voting illegally in Michigan last fall has fled the U.S., federal authorities said Friday. The man, who is not a U.S. citizen, had surrendered his Chinese passport in November and was told not to leave Michigan. But he traveled to China from Detroit in January by showing another passport, the FBI said in a court filing. An arrest warrant was issued in April after he failed to appear at two court hearings in Ann Arbor, where he had been a student at the University of Michigan. He was facing charges of perjury and attempting to vote as an unauthorized elector, a felony. Only citizens can vote in federal elections, and every voter must attest to U.S. citizenship when registering. The student was accused of lying about his citizenship when he registered to vote and then casting a ballot during an early voting period. He now faces a federal charge, though the U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with China.
BBC News
6 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Ex-officer on trial for perjury in Police Scotland tribunal
A former Police Scotland firearms officer has gone on trial charged with perjury in connection with evidence he gave at an employment Warhurst is also accused of sending indecent images or videos of topless women to a WhatsApp group of male police sergeants, and making a derogatory comment about a colleague's pregnant Warhurst gave evidence at a tribunal in 2021 and is accused of denying he shared the images or made the remark, when he in fact knew that he had done denies the charges against him at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. Giving evidence, a former firearms officer Richard Creanor alleged that in April 2017 he witnessed Mr Warhurst make the derogatory remark about their colleague's pregnant Creanor said that fellow officer John Morgan had told several colleagues in an office that his partner had discovered she was told them he took the previous day off work to go to a hospital appointment with her because she initially believed she had a Creanor claimed that Keith Warhurst then swore and said the woman must be fat "if she didn't realise she was pregnant".When asked by the procurator fiscal depute how he responded, Mr Creanor said he was "stunned"."However, I need to also explain there is also a dark humour that exists within the police - things that would not be acceptable in any other walk of life," he added."But I felt that went past inappropriate banter. It was just a horrible thing to say."Mr Creanor claimed that John Morgan responded to Mr Warhurst's remark and appeared "furious", but under cross-examination from the defence could not remember what Mr Morgan had Mr Creanor and Mr Warhurst gave evidence at an employment tribunal in Creanor told the court he told the truth at the tribunal and was telling the truth also said he was "furious" for a "variety of reasons" in the aftermath of the tribunal. One reason, he said, was that "Keith had insinuated or stated that I had lied, by giving his own evidence saying these things were not true".Mr Warhurst has since left the force. WhatsApp claim Mr Creanor was also asked about a WhatsApp group that several sergeants in the unit were members told the court that in the autumn of 2017, Mr Warhurst sent images of topless women to the group Creanor claimed that he was not offended by the images and did not take the issue any court also heard from a former officer who had served with both men at the time and said the culture at the unit was White, a team sergeant on the firearms unit who has since retired, told the court he had also received the images in the WhatsApp described them as "sexualised images" and said that Keith Warhurst had sent White claimed that he responded to the images with "something like Keith, do you realise you're an inspector now?"Mr Warhurst had recently been temporarily promoted at the time the images were allegedly White told the court that although he wasn't offended by the images, he found it "surprising" given the group chat was work-related and that Mr Warhurst had recently been questioned on the culture at the firearms unit at the time, Mr White said there were "very few" women and that it was "male-dominated".Under questioning from the defence, Mr White confirmed that "images of a jokey type" could "possibly" have been sent on a regular trial continues.
CBC
28-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Wilmot Park murderer gets 3½-year sentence for lying during ex-girlfriend's trial
Social Sharing A convicted murderer was sentenced Wednesday to three and a half years in prison for providing false testimony that upended the trial of his ex-girlfriend, who was accused in the same homicide. New Brunswick provincial court Judge Natalie LeBlanc also ordered Zachery Murphy's sentence to run concurrently with the life sentence he's been serving since 2021. The Crown prosecutor in the case asked that Murphy get a five-year consecutive sentence for the crime of perjury, which he committed when he lied as a witness during the trial of Angela Walsh in January 2023. LeBlanc said the Criminal Code doesn't allow her to do that. "So [the sentence] may have other impacts to you, sir, in terms of parole or any other peripheral items, but it won't be more time on top of your life sentence," LeBlanc said to Murphy, who appeared in Fredericton court by video. Murphy and Walsh were jointly charged with first-degree murder in the homicide of Clark Greene, whose body was found near a gazebo in Fredericton's Wilmot Park in April 2020. Murphy pleaded guilty to the lesser second-degree murder in November 2021 and was set to testify as a Crown witness in Walsh's first-degree murder trial. Murphy had given a sworn statement to police following the crime, in which he admitted to hitting Green in the head with a pipe, followed by Walsh stabbing Green multiple times. At Walsh's trial, Murphy was expected to deliver testimony mirroring his earlier statement but instead testified he was the one who stabbed Greene, all while being unaware of what Walsh was doing at that exact moment. The testimony effectively ended the trial, as it prompted the Office of the Attorney General to consent to allow Walsh to plead guilty instead to the lesser charge of second-degree murder. She was later sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 13 years. Perjury threatens foundation of justice, judge says In deciding Murphy's sentence, LeBlanc said she considered the gravity of the offence. She said the truth is of absolute necessity during legal proceedings, and witnesses are required to respect that when providing testimony. "This ensures that courts can deliver a fair and just outcome," she said. "When witnesses perjure themselves, the very foundation of the justice system that is threatened." She said Murphy's testimony was being relied on heavily in the Crown's case against Walsh, considering he was the only known witness to the crime. When Murphy unexpectedly changed his story in the witness box, LeBlanc said the prosecution was undoubtedly left with no choice but to end the trial. "Mr. Murphy's choice to commit perjury did not come early in this process, but rather, at the end of the investigation and preliminary inquiry, a jury selection, and during the course of an actual first-degree murder trial," LeBlanc said. "It is difficult to imagine a more serious set of circumstances." Murphy's life sentence came with the chance of parole eligibility after 11 years, meaning he'll be able to apply around the year 2032. LeBlanc said his perjury sentence could have some implications for his eventual parole, but did not elaborate on how.
