Consecration of St John's Church

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1407: There were some controversial points behind the consecration of, and the first Mass at, St John's church by Peterborough's mitred Abbot Genge. Philip Repington, the Bishop of Lincoln, should have attended but, it was claimed, he had more pressing engagements. Bishop Repington was chaplain and confessor to King Henry VI and it was 'suggested' that he was too busy chasing promotion to come to Peterborough. Was it a coincidence that he became a cardinal in 1408? (Bull, J&V., A History of Peterborough Parish Church - St John the Baptist 1407-2007; Mackreth, Donald, Peterborough - History & Guide,Sutton, 1994)

Taken from: The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.

Former Mayors Jailed for Electoral Fraud

2008

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9 October 2008 saw the final act of the Peterborough 2004 election vote rigging scandal when Raja Akhtar, the Conservative Mayor of Peterborough in 2004, was sentenced to three months in jail for electoral fraud, at Norwich Crown Court. Mohammed Khaliq and Abdul Razaq, both Conservatives, were sentenced to two months and five months respectively for the same offence. These were not the first convictions for vote rigging in the 2004 election, Labour party members, former mayor Mohammed Choudhary, candidate Maqbool Hussein and party official Tariq Mahmood were jailed in April 2008.

All six men were caught as part of ‘Operation Hooper’, launched by Cambridgeshire police after residents turning up at the ballot box to vote were turned away after being told their vote had already been cast. The investigation revealed that the men had tampered with postal voting forms, sending ballot papers to away addresses so they could hijack them.

The detective who led the 1 million operation said he hoped that the prison sentences would bring back confidence to Peterborough voters who had lost faith in the election process.

The judge in the trial of Akhtar, Khaliq and Razaq, Alasdair Darroch, told the trio:

"It is a very sad day. There are few cases where so many good things have been said about the defendants. But electors need to be sure every vote cast is genuine. The public has to have confidence in elections, and a clear message is, if you interfere with the electoral process, you will go to prison."

Reference:

Peterborough Telegraph 10 October 2008

mayor , Elections , Fraud

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Consecration of St John's Church

Information

Former Mayors Jailed for Electoral Fraud

2008

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