Candidate fined over forms fraud

A Workers Party candidate and her husband have been fined for submitting fraudulent nomination forms for last year's assembly elections.

Marcella Delaney, who failed to get elected for South Antrim, was fined £750, her husband Thomas £600.

The couple, from Hightown Rise in Newtownabbey, admitted naming electors in nomination forms without obtaining their consent.

A defence solicitor said the couple had been lazy about the forms.

He said they firmly believed the named electors would have given their backing if they had been approached.

District judge Philip Mateer said it was a serious matter as the public was entitled to have confidence in the electoral system.

He said the defendants' behaviour had lessened that confidence, but accepted the offences were at the bottom end.