Farooq found guilty on public order offence

THE cleavage politics of Rochdale Labour Party reached a new low today as Councillor Farooq Ahmed has been convicted by a court of a public order offence under Section 4, which he denied.  The court was told Councillor Ahmed had had an altercation on January 22nd, 2014, with fellow Labour councillor Neil Emmott on Cheetham Street in Rochdale, while Councillor Emmott was getting his lunch.  Ahmed was found guilty of being homophobic and threatening violence against Councillor Emmott, fining him £1,000 with £625 costs and ordering to pay £250 compensation to Councillor Emmott.  The expression used against Councillor Emmott was that he was a 'queer little arse licker' adding 'watch your back'.

Councillor Ahmed who pleaded not guilty is now considering an appeal.

This exchange is seemingly all part of the familiar banter now taking place between different sections of the Rochdale Labour Party.  In this case the row was related to an online article by Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk about the local child sexual exploitation grooming scandal.  Councillor Emmott is a case worker for Mr Danczuk the Rochdale MP, and it seems Farooq felt Emmott was in some way responsible for the content of the article.

Councillor Ahmed has said that the altercation was part of a split within the local Labour Party between the allies of the new Council leader Richard Farnell and the former leader Councillor Colin Lambert.