the times | Thursday November 26 2020 1GM 21
News
Referees for jailed
Tory face exposure
Fariha Karim
Esther Webber Red Box reporterA political agent, councillors, business-
men and a religious leader were among
those who wrote character references
for a former MP convicted of sex
attacks.
In a victory for the press, the judge
overseeing the case of Charlie Elphicke
has said that some of those references
should, in principle, be released.
Elphicke, 49, was sentenced to two
years in prison in September by Mrs
Justice Whipple after being convicted
of three sexual assaults against two
women. He assaulted one of the women
while he was an MP in and around
Westminster, and another at his central
London home while chanting “I’m a
naughty Tory”.
At his sentencing hearing, South-
wark crown court was told by Ian Win-
ter, QC, for Elphicke, that 34 character
references had been submitted in miti-
gation. A request for the references to
be released was made by The Times, The
Guardian and the Daily Mail.
Yesterday Mrs Justice Whipple said:
“Whether the character statements are
amenable to disclosure, the answer
must be yes, they are. Because they
were put before the court in a senten-
cing hearing, the open justice principle
applies.”
She added that “I accede in principle
to the press application”, but would
carry out a “balancing exercise” foreach reference to decide which details
should be released.
In discussing individual references, it
emerged that those who had written
them included someone described by
the judge as a political agent, who was
“closely associated with [Elphicke] and
his role in the Conservative Party in
Dover and Deal and is in a senior posi-
tion, having worked closely [with him].”
Hugh Forgan, QC, for the prosecu-
tion, said that a member of a selection
committee who recommended that El-
phicke should stand in 2010, when he
was elected, had also written, as had
“someone who talks about a congrega-
tion and a role leading a congregation”.
The judge indicated that some would
probably be anonymised, for example
those from constituents, but others
from publicly elected officials, such as
councillors, would not.
It has already emerged that a peer
and four MPs, including the former en-
vironment secretary Theresa Villiers,
wrote in his favour.
The Conservative politicians, and
Natalie Elphicke, the jailed man’s wife,
face investigation by the parliamentary
standards commissioner over an
“improper” attempt to interfere with
his case. They were reported to the
commissioner by the Labour MP Helen
Hayes, who asked her to investigate “at-
tempted political interference”.
Mrs Justice Whipple’s ruling and any
references are expected to be published
next month.THE NATIONAL GALLERYfrom Stonehenge.
The society said that
leaving Burlington
House “would require
the prohibitively costly
process of replicating
the infrastructure to
house its unique
collections elsewhere,
while moving fragile
historical items en
masse is a huge and
extremely costly
undertaking in itself ”.
The Linnean
Society, the oldest
active biological
society, also based at
Burlington House, said
that it faced the same
rent issue “which
presents an existentialthreat”. It holds the
collections of the 18th-
century Swedish
botanist Carl
Linnaeus.
The department of
housing, communities
and local government
said that the Society of
Antiquaries paid
about 30 per cent of
market rent under a
lease signed in 2005.
“Despite this we’re
sympathetic to the
societies’ position and
are exploring whether
there is a solution that
can deliver public
value and help them to
remain at New
Burlington House.”