ThunderDragon Blog

Ian Oakley, former Conservative PPC for Watford, who entered a guilty plea to charges of harassment and criminal damage towards Watford Lib Dems, has today been sentenced.

He has been given an 18 week suspended jail sentence and a 12 month supervision order. The magistrate who sentenced Ian did not send him to jai because he took into account psychiatric problems revealed by the pre-sentence reports - the reason that the sentence was postponed until today being that these reports had not been completed - as well as the early guilty plea and the remorse he shows.

So this is it. Ian has received the appropriate sentence for his crimes, as judged by the courts.

Lib Dems may not like it, but the law has spoken. It is all now over, and it is time to move on.

Except apparently “the Watford LibDems are seeking to make the Tories nightmare continue” and would rather “say goodbye to Mr. Oakley in style” by continually raking over old ground than let the issue go. Which is at odds with the official statement from PPC Sal Brinton that “we hope that this unpleasant chapter is now over”. If you want to be so, Sal, you better stamp on your members and councillors sharpish.

The sentencing of former Watford Conservative PPC Ian Oakley, which was due to have been passed today, has been postponed for four weeks.

Ian pleaded guilty to carrying out acts of harassment and criminal damage towards Watford Lib Dems back in August, with the sentencing set for today, after a psychiatric assessment had been carried out. The reason for the postponement today being that this report had not been completed in time.

Personally, I don’t think that is it obvious that Ian is psychologically disturbed, as he never seemed like it to me - but I’m not a psychiatrist.

But what I do know for sure is that he will get the appropriate sentence for his misdeeds on October 13.

This has been a hard post for me to write, especially since I was on holiday when this fact emerged.

Ian Oakley, former Conservative PPC for Watford, is guilty of harassment and criminal damage towards Watford Lib Dems. I didn’t think that he was, but he is. I stand corrected.

What he has done is completely unacceptable. And he deserves what he gets for it. Unlike Asp, a contributor to this blog, who wrote a post on this subject whilst I was on holiday, I am certainly not “left with the classic comment “So what?”.” What he has done is so very very wrong. It would be wrong is he wasn’t a politician and these actions had been done for any other reason, and is abhorrent because it was done for political reasons. He has effectively attempted to subvert democracy.

He has already lost any chance of a political career, and faces a jail term. And also appears to be facing questions over his psychological state.

I fully support the idea of a full inquiry into this. Nothing less can be done. But the very idea that by-elections should be held for three local councillor positions won by Watford Conservatives since 2006 is ridiculous. It is not worth the cost of the by-elections, considering the massive Lib Dem majority on the council it certainly is not affecting their ability to make decisions. Really, the hate campaign failed since the Lib Dems certainly weren’t adversley affected by it.

Ian is not someone I thought would - or could - have done these disgusting things. Unfortunately we are all wrong sometimes, and I was this time. Ian will get his just desserts.

Possibly the most interesting story to emerge out of Watford since - well, ever - and The ThunderDragon isn’t around to give us his opinion on matters. Might be the most interesting thing to come out of Watford actually, but I’m just a biased Northerner and assume that all goings on in places where they can’t talk proper are wrong in some way. Still, doesn’t stop me talking about it.

“It” of course being Ian Oakley - and his admission of a campaign of harassment against the Lib Dems. I’d have thought they’d be quite proud that they were viewed as a target instead of being the eternal third place - but that’s probably a sore point.

I missed this story breaking, but knew there would be mention of it on these humble pages:

Personally, I do not believe that Ian has done this. I don’t think that he is so stupid as to conduct such a campaign. However, if he is convicted of this in a court of law, then I will stand corrected. (Ian Oakley Resigns as Watford PPC - 20th July)

Well, he’s not been convicted exactly…

I’ve noticed though that a lot of commenters are jumping on this post though. I’m not going to try and pre-empt what the invariable comment will be from the Dragon on his return from the desolate wastelands that is Scotland, but perhaps it’s a case a misplaced loyalty.

Let’s look at it objectively though.

Is Ian Oakley the first parliamentary candidate to resort to shady dealings? Certainly not, and I doubt he’ll be the last. It happens with any job - some people want it so much they do things they shouldn’t have.

So, does it mean that all Conservatives are vandals? I don’t think anyone can even think about suggesting as such - it’s an isolated incident. I’ll say with some confidence that it’s not official Tory policy - or indeed that of any political party. Well, maybe the BNP….

And so what that people who knew Oakley better than you, me, or the cat next door didn’t believe he could have done it. More intelligent people than I have been duped by criminals in the past. It’s seemingly very easy to keep criminal activity hidden - it’s often difficult enough for the police and courts to know if someone’s committed an offence with all the evidence in front of them.

Therefore, I’m left with the classic comment “So what?”. It’s not like Oakley was actually an MP and with the responsibility attached to it. He’s done the crime, so he’ll serve the time (whatever it might be). Unfortunately for the Tories, he’s almost certainly cost them any chance in Watford next time out. Give it a few years, there’ll be some scandal affecting some other party. And providing it’s not a systematic approach by an entire party, I’ll still be saying “so what?” The people then will also serve the time as appropriate. We don’t live in a world where everyone is morally sound. If we did, I wouldn’t have much of a job.

~Asp (With no allegiance to any particular party before anyone comments)

Ian was arrested in connection with a hate campaign conducted against Watford Lib Dem councillors, and has now resigned as Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Watford. No charges have yet been brought against Ian, just accusations. As such, Ian has resigned to enable the local party to move on, not because he is guilty.

Personally, I do not believe that Ian has done this. I don’t think that he is so stupid as to conduct such a campaign. However, if he is convicted of this in a court of law, then I will stand corrected. And if he is cleared, then I shall expect acknowledgement of his innocence from all accusers.

This sort hate campaign is unacceptable, and whoever has been carrying it out - Ian or anyone else - should be brought to justice. Politics must be conducted through reasoned debate, not by the use of intimidation.

I certainly do not believe that “Tory hope for Watford fades“. Watford is still winnable for us, we just need to ensure that we select the right candidate and work even harder than before. And I will most certainly be playing my part.

PS. I thought long and hard before writing this post, but since some ‘hilarious’ commenters [who I presume are Lib Dems] started making comments like this:

Will you be visiting Ian in jail? You Tories are hilarious, it’s true

and this:

That would be the fantastic, hilarious and arrestable ex-Conservative PPC Ian Oakley…

on my blog, and I thought I’d make my position clear. I will also be closely monitoring comments on this post.

Please note: This entire blog, and this post in specific, are written purely on a personal basis.

Sam Coates at the Times‘ Red Box blog asks “is your MP on the roll of shame?” He is, of course, referring to the list of MPs who voted to keep their exploitative and expensive [to us] expense system.

That list of MPs can be seen here, containing 146 (of 172) Labour MPs, of which 33 are ministers - including Cabinet members Jacqui Smith and Andy Burnham.

To answer the question, yes my MP is on the list:

… Claire Ward (Watford) …

Which is why I am out delivering leaflets today, to remove her from Watford and to make Ian Oakley, who is by far the best parliamentary candidate of the three main parties. Both for Watford and for the country.

Today I have been leafleting in Watford - my first time! I was leafleting to help the fantastic [and hilarious] Conservative PPC Ian Oakley take the seat away from the failing and useless Claire Ward.

It was great fun campaigning with other people, mostly Conservative Future members including a candidate for CF chairman, and will hopefully go some way towards getting more Conservative votes in Watford - and with less than two thousand votes between all three parties at the last parliamentary election [no matter what the Fib Dems claim], every vote counts!

One thing that that needs to be done is for the Watford Conservative website to get back online.