Elections due as couple expelled from States

Saturday 04 January 2014

Two new Deputies will be elected in St Helier 1 and 2 districts to fill the £45,000 per year seats until the main elections in November.

Shona and Trevor Pitman were declared bankrupt and expelled from the States in the Royal Court on Friday afternoon after a long and unsuccessful legal battle against the JEP and estate agents Broadland over a cartoon that the newspaper ran five years ago.

They claimed that the cartoon was defamatory and sought damages of thousands of pounds. The case took four years to come to court before the Pitmans’ claim was thrown out, and the resulting costs orders and legal fees running to hundreds of thousands of pounds have crippled them financially.

Having lost their jobs over their unsuccessful court case, the couple will also now lose their St John home which will be sold to cover their debts.

It is understood to be the first time that a States Member has been removed from office for becoming bankrupt. By coincidence, BNP leader Nick Griffin was also declared bankrupt in Wales on Friday, but he will be able to keep his seat as a Member of the European Parliament.

By-elections will be held for new Deputies to sit in the St Helier No 1 and 2 seats, probably in early March, and the successful candidates will finish the Pitmans’ terms of office running up to the main election in November.

Having been declared bankrupt, the Pitmans will not be allowed to stand for election for five years, meaning that they would not be able to run again in November, or in the general election after that.