Charges against ex-elected Mayor over declaration of pecuniary interests dropped

All charges have been dropped against Middlesbrough’s former Independent elected mayor Andy Preston, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has confirmed.

Preston had been accused of failing to declare pecuniary interests in executive meetings relating to property, breaching sections 30(4) and 34(1)(b) and (3) of the Localism Act 2011 and had been due to appear at Teesside Magistrates Court on 21 August.

A CPS spokesperson said: “In all criminal cases it is the duty of prosecutors to continuously review all available evidence. At each stage, any case must be supported by sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction, and it must also be in the public interest to proceed with a prosecution.

“After the charges had been brought in this case, the Crown Prosecution Service received additional relevant information from those representing Mr Preston.

“We conducted a further review of the case with the inclusion of this material and found insufficient evidence to support any criminal charges. We then took the appropriate decision to discontinue the case against Mr Preston.”

Mark Smulian