Labour activist admits vote rigging offence

A 24-year-old former Labour councillor has pleaded guilty to a computer misuse offence amid allegations that a party database was manipulated to help fix a parliamentary candidate selection in Croydon.

Gabriel Leroy, a former councillor in Southend, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit an offence under the Criminal Law Act and the Computer Misuse Act.

Three other Labour activists will face a trial in February 2029 after they entered not guilty pleas.

Joel Bodmer, 40, his wife Shila Bodmer, 41, and former Croydon councillor Carole Bonner, 69, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit an offence under the Criminal Law Act and the Computer Misuse Act.

Joel Bodmer, who stood for selection as Labour's candidate for the Croydon East constituency, also pleaded not guilty to a second count of perverting the course of justice.

The process to select Labour's candidate for the parliamentary seat was abandoned in November 2023 amid alleged irregularities, and re-run four months later without Joel Bodmer taking part.

The indictment alleges that Joel Bodmer "provided a PDF document and a Microsoft Excel file purporting to be his complete telephone records" but that "a telephone call to the Labour Party support team… had been deleted."

Joel Bodmer's barrister Sean Caulfield told the court that on the first computer misuse charge his defence will be that "he had the authority to act", and on the second charge he had "no intention to pervert the course of justice".