Arrest warrant out for Lib-Dem accuser

A WOMAN at the centre of a political row during the general election has been charged with benefit fraud.

Rebecca McGladdery (44), of Galland Street, Greenacres, failed to appear at Oldham Magistrates Court yesterday and a warrant with bail was issued for her arrest.

She faces three charges in the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) prosecution.

One alleges that she failed to notify a change of circumstances between January 7, 2008 and April 27, 2009, by working while continuing to claim benefits.

The other charges are of making false statements to obtain benefits which carry a maximum penalty of six months in jail.

David Hewitt, prosecuting for the DWP, said a summons to attend court had been sent by first-class post to Miss McGladdery on February 17 but she had failed to attend.

McGladdery made headlines before last year’s general election when she appeared on TV and in newspapers saying candidate Elwyn Watkins had paid staff £2.80 less than the minimum wage when she worked for the Liberal Democrat local party in 2009. Mr Watkins said the claims were untrue and he was the victim of a smear campaign.

He was reported to HM Revenue and Customs but an investigation found they were working as volunteers not employees and didn’t take it further.

McGladdery had gone to work for the Labour Party when she made the allegations.

She repeated the claims during the historic election court last year that saw Labour MP Phil Woolas stripped of his Oldham East and Saddleworth seat for lying about his Lib-Dem opponent Mr Watkins.

She told the election court she had gone to work for Mr Woolas’s team in 2010 after harassment from Lib-Dem supporters.

She admitted making various complaints about Mr Watkins to Oldham and Rochdale councils, the tax-evasion hotline, the benefits hotline, and HM Revenue and Customs, making complaints about several Oldham councillors and reporting a fellow Lib-Dem volunteer to the RSPCA for mistreating a cat.

McGladdery admitted she was helped by Mr Woolas’s staff in composing letters of complaint to public bodies.