Reform UK councillor charged with 35 offences

George Madgwick, a Reform UK councillor in Hampshire, has been charged with 35 offences, including 12 counts of rape, the Crown Prosecution Service said. He has been suspended from the party with immediate effect, a Reform UK spokesperson said. The allegations concern four people who were aged 16 or 17 at the time, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said. The alleged offences took place between 2008 and 2021 in Portsmouth and Wales. Madgwick denies have not been reported in the information surrounding the charges; he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The CPS said it decided to prosecute after determining there was sufficient evidence and that bringing the case was in the public interest. It said the charges include serious sexual offences and multiple counts of rape. The allegations have not been tested in court. The full charge list includes 12 counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault, two counts of assault by penetration, two counts of making indecent images of a child and one count of distributing an indecent image of a child. Other charges reported by the CPS include causing or inciting sexual exploitation of a child, controlling or coercive behaviour,...