Burnley BNP councillor tried to defraud insurance company

A serving Burnley councillor could face criminal charges after a civil court judge ruled he tried to defraud an insurance company.

Coun. Derek Dawson, the British National Party councillor for Gannow, made a claim against Zurich Insurance which would have initially been worth up to £30,000. The claim related to an accident in 2003 at Zurich customer Mr Stephen Hargreaves' house in Whalley, where it was alleged Coun. Dawson's severely fractured ankle was caused by a ladder being knocked onto his leg by a car driven by Mr Hargreaves.

As it was a civil trial no punishment was handed down by the court, but Zurich was granted permission to pursue Dawson and Hargreaves for Contempt of Court proceedings through the Attorney General. If successful, this will attract a criminal penalty.

But Burnley's BNP leader Coun. Sharon Wilkinson defended Coun. Dawson, calling him "an excellent councillor" and even questioned whether the judge was influenced by Dawson's "political persuasion".

During the case, which began last year before starting again this month, Deputy Circuit Judge John Morgan heard evidence at Burnley County Court, which proved the fracture was caused by Dawson falling off a ladder rather than Hargreaves' car knocking the ladder onto him.

Coun. Wilkinson said: "At the start of the case, the judge was made aware Derek was a BNP councillor. He then chose to believe the evidence of Zurich's expert engineer and not Derek's expert engineer as to how his injuries were caused. Whether the judge was influenced by Derek's political persuasion we can only speculate. Derek is an excellent councillor and I don't think this will affect his position."

But Burnley Council leader, Coun. Gordon Birtwistle called for Coun. Dawson's resignation saying: "Any councillor that attempts to commit fraud is not a fit and proper person to be a councillor."

Mr Stephen Langton, representing Hargreaves, appealed against the judge's decision, which was not granted. Mr Langton and Mr James Hurd, representing Dawson, also appealed against the imposition of court costs, but again the judge found in favour of Zurich. The costs, which are expected to run into tens of thousands of pounds, will be decided later.

Mr Simon McCann, representing Zurich, argued: "Dawson and Hargreaves colluded together to defraud Zurich. Fraudsters should not benefit."

Mr Scott Clayton, claims fraud and investigations manager for Zurich, said: "Fraud is something we take very seriously as this case shows. Unfortunately, some people will go to great lengths to secure financial gain. We challenge fraud because the costs in challenging these cases are spiralling at the expense of the honest customer."

Burnley Express

Nelson school in row over BNP stunt

A still of the Lie Lorry from the YouTube video

A row has erupted after BNP members parked a campaign trailer outside a school.

Representatives, including two councillors, were filmed arguing with a senior teacher from Pendle Vale College, in Oxford Road, after a large sign emblazoned with the party’s logo and a slogan was driven to the site. Now the footage has been posted on YouTube, as well as the BNP’s website.

Coun Derek Dawson, who represents Gannow ward on Burnley Council, said he and Pendle borough councillor Brian Parker were in front of the school to do an interview for BNP TV about the Government’s £250million Building Schools for the Future programme. Schools across Burnley and Pendle have been merged and rebuilt as part of the flagship scheme.

Coun Dawson said a senior teacher, believed to be an assistant head, came out of the school to tell them to move. He added: “We were on the road outside the school and causing no trouble.”

Yesterday, Pendle Vale headteacher Steve Wilson said: “We have a duty of care to all of our pupils. With that in mind, we felt that having a BNP billboard parked outside our multicultural school may have had an impact on pupils as they were leaving, and we asked the occupants of the vehicle to move it, as we would have done with any similar vehicle displaying a political message.”

Lancashire Telegraph

Councillor cleared over 'offensive song' stunt

A Burnley councillor filmed a fellow British National Party representative singing an offensive' song outside the office of a high-profile Asian MP.

Councillor Derek Dawson, Gannow's BNP ward member, was reported to the Standards Board of England by Burnley-born Shahid Malik, who is Dewsbury's MP, for his part in the publicity stunt. But the board has cleared Coun Dawson of any wrongdoing as he had not been acting in his capacity of a councillor at the time of the incident, which was later released for broadcast on the BNP's internet site.

Mr Malik, who was not present at the time, said that his staff had been intimidated by the song, Saville Town, which claims that the Dewsbury district, mainly populated by the Asian community, was rife with drug dealers and paedophiles. The MP, who is Britain's first Muslim minister, also claimed that filming had taken place inside his offices.

But an investigation by the standards board has cleared both Coun Dawson, and the person he was filming, Coun Colin Auty, a member of Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council, of bringing their authority or office into disrepute.

Coun Dawson has now made a Freedom of Information request over the cost of the six-month investigation. He said: "I had no doubt about the outcome of the inquiry. Anyone with any common sense could see that there was no malice intended. It was all harmless. All of the words in the song are true - they were in newspaper clippings,"

Both councillors had claimed they were acting in a private capacity during their performance and filming of the song. Previously Coun Auty had been taken to the same watchdog by Mr Malik and been cleared, on similar grounds.

"The video was just a publicity stunt," added Coun Dawson, who said that only one verse of the song was performed outside the MP's office.

The final verse refers to drug problems and allegations of paedophilia in that area Dewsbury but Coun Dawson could not recall if it was this section of the song which was used.

In an official ruling on the latest case, a Standards Board of England official says: "The ethical standards officer concluded that Coun Dawson was not acting in his official capacity or performing his functions as a councillor when he filmed outside Mr Malik's office for BNPtv. Consequently, the ethical standards officer could not examine Coun Dawson's conduct any further in relation to this incident, and so could only find that there was no evidence of a breach of the code of conduct."

The inquiry also ruled that there had been no attempt to film inside the premises. Similar findings were made in respect of the separate complaint against Coun Auty.

Police did attend the filming, following a complaint, but no statements were taken and no further action taken, according to the standards board.

Coun Gordon Birtwistle, leader of Burnley council, said "trying to create racial disharmony" by singing an offensive song in a mainly Asian area was "not acceptable at all".

Coun Dawson was elected to represent the borough council in May 2006 and forms part of a four-strong BNP group.

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