Clarke adamant he won’t resign despite conviction

Clarke adamant he won’t resign despite conviction

30 March 2016

INDEPENDENT councillor Patrick Clarke says he will not resign despite receiving a suspended prison sentence for a string of offences.

Clarke, who represents the Slieve Croob area on Newry, Mourne and Down Council, appeared at Downpatrick Court this week and admitted fraud, possession of an offensive weapon and criminal damage.

It is the latest in a series of court appearances for the former Alliance politician who has previously been sentenced for a separate fraud offence and the sexual assault of a woman.

Speaking after receiving a seven month suspended sentence on Thursday, Clarke said he intended to remain as a Newry Mourne and Down councillor.

“I have a mandate to May 2019 and I intend to see out my mandate,” he said. “The legislation is very clear. Under the 1972 Local Government Act, unless it is a custodial sentence I can remain on council.”

Councillor Clarke also pointed to the “mitigating circumstances and various issues in my life” that were outlined to the court.

He said some people had made comments on social media without knowing the full facts but that no-one from council or a member of the public had approached him directly to express any concerns.

“I have had a good bit of support and people are still contacting me on constituency matters so I am obviously doing something right,” he said.

At his latest court appearance a prosecution lawyer explained that the fraud charge arose when Clarke was an office bearer of Dundrum Village Association and received a £750 grant cheque from the Housing Executive in 2014.

Clarke lodged the cheque in his own bank account on September 22, 2014, but didn’t pass the money on to Dundrum Village Association.

Defence barrister Ms Niamh McCartney said her client has now repaid the money he took. She told the court he had been having financial difficulties at the time this occurred.

“He succumbed to temptation and he put it into his own account,” Ms McCartney said.

“He accepts it is a serious offence.”

The other two charges arose from a completely unrelated incident at an apartment near Clarke’s Mill Hill Court home in Castlewellan on September 5 last year.

On this occasion, police were dealing with an unconnected matter when they heard raised voices and went to investigate.  

The neighbour told police Clarke had forced his way into his apartment with a hammer and smashed a mug.

Ms McCartney said that Clarke had assisted the neighbour years earlier in his role as a councillor, but then had difficulties with the man phoning him after that.

“Mr Clarke was going through a stressful time and became paranoid and thought this was happening again,” she said, adding that the defendant “snapped” and committed the offence.

She said that her client realised that he should have “gone through the proper channels” to deal with the matter if he felt he was being “harassed.”

Ms McCartney said her client had “had a difficult early life” and in recent years had consumed alcohol to deal with his problems.

District Judge Mr Greg McCourt said he was “pleased” to see Clarke was complying well with his court-ordered probation for a previous offence.

 “Courts will always support people who take the benefits of probation,” Mr McCourt said. “Hopefully you won’t be back here.”

He sentenced the 41-year-old to seven months in prison, suspended for three years, for each of the offences, with all sentences concurrent to each other.