AN ex-parish councillor is set to go on trial after she denied breaching a stalking protection order which bans her from contacting a former MP candidate.
Marta Paszkowska, from Chapelford, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court today, Monday, and pleaded not guilty to breaching the five-year SPO – which was imposed by Warrington Magistrates Court in November.
The 44-year-old is alleged to have breached the order later the same month by publishing posts on Instagram relating Wendy Maisey, the Tory borough councillor who was previously a prospective MP for Warrington North at the 2019 general election.
Paszkowska, of Chicago Place, was told not to contact Cllr Maisey by magistrates last year following months of online abuse.
She became a councillor Burtonwood with Westbrook Parish Council during an uncontested election last May, but is no longer listed as a member on the council’s website.
While originally elected as a Conservative, her social media profiles state that she is now an independent.
It is understood that Paszkowska was suspended by the party before the allegations were made to Cheshire Police.
Defence barrister Anthony Williams told the court that his client ‘is subject to a number of different investigations regarding the stalking of Wendy Maisey that will be disputed’.
He claimed that the police were ‘dragging their feet’ over the investigation and that she is appealing the protection order, although a date has yet to be fixed for this hearing.
Charlotte Kenny, prosecuting, disputed that the force’s investigation had been unnecessarily slow and stated that there are ‘tens of thousands’ of items to be analysed.
But she added that she did not believe the legality of the order was being challenged and ‘for those reasons a breach is a breach’.
Judge Robert Trevor-Jones released the defendant on bail ahead of a scheduled trial in November.
Paszkowska was described by the Tories during the 2021 borough council election campaign as a ‘community champion and full-time carer’ and director of the Conservative Diversity Project, having stood in the Burtonwood and Westbrook ward.
She lost out on a Town Hall seat by only nine votes.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article