A partner at media firm Wiggin has publicly unmasked a councillor who repeatedly failed to pay his council tax.
Caroline Kean read about a campaign by the Bolton News to name the councillor over a year ago. The paper had filed a freedom of information request in an attempt to reveal his identity after he twice failed to pay his council tax and received two court summonses. The councillor claimed that this was a personal matter and as such did need not be disclosed. Bolton Council stood by him and the paper got nowhere with the Information Commissioner and a first level tribunal.
Kean and her team worked on the case pro bono, as did her barrister Anya Proops QC of 11KBW*. They successfully appealed the original judgment and forced the council to name their man, Labour councillor Ismail Ibrahim. Ibrahim apologised and said that as the tax was eventually paid it was a question of late payment rather than non payment (and no doubt the money was just resting in his account). He accepted that he should have 'fessed up sooner and has been stripped of his position as Chair of the council's scrutiny committee.
Kean told RollOnFriday "we have always fought for the media and to protect press freedoms. I believed the decision that the councillor's identity should be protected to be manifestly wrong and a dangerous precedent to leave unchallenged. Luckily Anya Props of 11 KBW agreed."
*There may be something in crusading lawyers fighting for press freedom. A few weeks ago the general counsel at a private equity firm was named all over the media for publicly having sex with a female QC round the back of Waterloo Station after a long lunch. The QC originally accepted a police caution, then changed her mind six weeks later. She claimed that she had been assaulted and that as such she was entitled to anonymity. RoF has been told who she is, and can entirely understand why both she and a number of well known people would like to keep her name confidential. But counsel has advised that although this looks like an abuse of the Sexual Offences Act, we can't do anything about it until the CPS investigates her complaint and decides that it has no basis. If Kean wants to help us out on this please get in touch.
Tip Off ROF
Caroline Kean read about a campaign by the Bolton News to name the councillor over a year ago. The paper had filed a freedom of information request in an attempt to reveal his identity after he twice failed to pay his council tax and received two court summonses. The councillor claimed that this was a personal matter and as such did need not be disclosed. Bolton Council stood by him and the paper got nowhere with the Information Commissioner and a first level tribunal.
Kean and her team worked on the case pro bono, as did her barrister Anya Proops QC of 11KBW*. They successfully appealed the original judgment and forced the council to name their man, Labour councillor Ismail Ibrahim. Ibrahim apologised and said that as the tax was eventually paid it was a question of late payment rather than non payment (and no doubt the money was just resting in his account). He accepted that he should have 'fessed up sooner and has been stripped of his position as Chair of the council's scrutiny committee.
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Ibrahim. Tardy |
Kean told RollOnFriday "we have always fought for the media and to protect press freedoms. I believed the decision that the councillor's identity should be protected to be manifestly wrong and a dangerous precedent to leave unchallenged. Luckily Anya Props of 11 KBW agreed."
*There may be something in crusading lawyers fighting for press freedom. A few weeks ago the general counsel at a private equity firm was named all over the media for publicly having sex with a female QC round the back of Waterloo Station after a long lunch. The QC originally accepted a police caution, then changed her mind six weeks later. She claimed that she had been assaulted and that as such she was entitled to anonymity. RoF has been told who she is, and can entirely understand why both she and a number of well known people would like to keep her name confidential. But counsel has advised that although this looks like an abuse of the Sexual Offences Act, we can't do anything about it until the CPS investigates her complaint and decides that it has no basis. If Kean wants to help us out on this please get in touch.