Miranda Agnes Jayne Grell (born June 1978) is a barrister and former Labour Party councillor for the

London Borough of Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to th ...

. She was the first person to be found guilty of making false statements under the

Representation of the People Act 1983 The Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It changed the British electoral process in the following ways: * Amended the Representation of the People Act 1969. * Stated that a convicted pe ...

, having made false allegations of paedophilia against her political opponent, Barry Smith, during an election campaign. Grell was banned for holding public office for three years as a result. She subsequently trained to become a barrister and was called to the Bar in 2014.Miranda Grell wins Reita Clarke Memorial Award 2014 , Hackney Community Law Centre

Early life

Grell was born in 1978 to parents from

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

who had moved to Britain in 1973. She says she had no relationship with her father. She attended Walthamstow School for Girls, studied European studies with modern languages at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, gaining a first class honours degree, and took a master's degree in industrial relations from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

Politics

Grell joined the Labour Party in 1999 having been persuaded to do so by her friend and fellow student

Chuka Umunna Chuka Harrison Umunna (; born 17 October 1978) is a British retired politician who served as Member of Parliament (UK), Member of Parliament (MP) for Streatham (UK Parliament constituency), Streatham from 2010 United Kingdom general election, ...

, who became an MP in 2010. At the time she stood in the Waltham Forest local election, she worked as a senior policy adviser to the conciliation service

Acas The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) is a Crown non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its purpose is to improve organisations and working life through the promotion and facilitation of strong ...

. She had previously worked as a trainee speech writer for

Anna Diamantopoulou Anna Diamantopoulou ( el, Άννα Διαμαντοπούλου; born 26 February 1959 in Kozani, Greece)deputy mayor of London A Deputy Mayor is a member of the London Mayoral cabinet, in the executive arm of the Greater London Authority. They serve as political advisors with responsibilities and powers corresponding to portfolios delegated by the Mayor. One of them mu ...

Nicky Gavron Felicia Nicolette C. Gavron (born November 1941) is a British politician who served as Deputy Mayor of London to Ken Livingstone from 2000 to 2003 and 2004 to 2008. She was a member of the London Assembly from 2000 to 2021 and was the former ...

. She served on the management committee of the

pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the develop ...

Compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...

from June 2005 until her resignation from the committee on 30 November 2007. Grell was also a

school governor In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, school governors are the overseers of a school. In state schools, they have three main functions: *Giving the school a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction *Holding the headteacher to account for the ...

2006 local election controversy

Grell was elected in the May 2006 local elections for the Leyton ward of

Waltham Forest London Borough Council Waltham Forest London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Waltham Forest in London, England which has existed since the London Government Act 1963 was commenced in 1965, replacing three local authorities: Chingford Bor ...

. The ward returned three councillors, two Liberal Democrats and one Labour, Grell, in the third position. In 2002, Leyton had returned three Liberal Democrats. Grell gained the seat when the Liberal Democrats made gains in the borough. However, in September 2007, she went on trial on charges under the

of making a false statement of fact about a candidate's personal character or conduct for electoral advantage, specifically that she made allegations of

paedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty ...

against her

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

Liberal Democrat opponent, Barry Smith. In addition to losing his seat Smith stated he was verbally abused in the street, spat at, and forced to relocate to the north of England as a result of the false allegations, fearing for his life. Grell admitted to

outing Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

her opponent and falsely claiming he had a 19-year-old

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

boyfriend (Smith's partner was actually 39 and

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...

), though she denied making the false allegations of paedophilia to four residents. Witnesses against Grell included a Labour voter and also another Labour candidate for her ward, Nicholas Russell. On 21 September 2007, she was found guilty on two counts, fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 towards the prosecution costs. On 24 October 2007, Grell's supporters launched a campaign to finance her appeal, but it was later reported that the Labour Party would pay her legal costs. Labour then withdrew this support. On 27 November, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' newspaper quoted a party spokesman: "Following legal advice in the last few days, the Labour Party today withdrew its support for Miranda Grell's appeal." Criticism was levelled at the party for supporting Grell's appeal, in particular by

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...

campaigner and former Labour candidate

Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is a British human rights campaigner, originally from Australia, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey ...

. Grell's appeal hearing began on 28 November 2007 at Snaresbrook Crown Court before Judge Peter Birts QC and two

lay magistrate Magistrates are trained volunteers, selected from the local community, who deal with a wide range of criminal and civil proceedings. They are also known as Justices of the Peace. In the adult criminal court, magistrates decide on offences whic ...

s. On 30 November, Grell's conviction for making false statements about another candidate to gain electoral advantage was upheld. She vacated her seat and was banned from holding public office for three years. The

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for Leyton ward on 14 February 2008 was won by Liberal Democrat Winnie Smith. Following the appeal verdict, Grell resigned from the Labour Party, from her job working for the deputy mayor of London, and from the management committee of the Compass pressure group, but still claimed innocence, continuing to do so years afterwards. Grell lodged a first application with the

Criminal Cases Review Commission The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is the statutory body responsible for investigating alleged miscarriages of justice in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It was established by Section 8 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 and bega ...

in 2009, assisted by Lord Gifford QC.

Subsequent career

In 2011 she became the interim development officer, then business development manager, of the Hackney Community Law Centre. She was the 2014 recipient of the Reita Clarke Memorial Award for outstanding achievement, awarded by the Law Centres Network. In November 2014, after completing the

Bar Professional Training Course The Bar Professional Training Course or BPTC is a postgraduate course which allows law graduates to be named and practise as barristers in England and Wales. The eight institutes that run the BPTC along with the four prestigious Inns of Court a ...

(BPTC) at the City University Law School in Gray's Inn London, Grell was called to the Bar of England and Wales by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

. She was proposed by former Lord Justice of Appeal Sir Stephen Sedley. She was actively involved in the

Britain Stronger in Europe Britain Stronger in Europe (formally The In Campaign Limited) was an advocacy group which campaigned in favour of the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union in the 2016 British referendum. It was launched at the Old Truma ...

campaign in Leyton and Wanstead and nationally, appearing in official campaign videos. She appeared as an audience member on the ''EU Referendum: The Great Debate'' television programme broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

on 21 June 2016.

References

External links