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' Norman Scarth, a World War 2 veteran, is a notorious vexatious litigant, who has been at the centre of many controversies. ==Elections== He has been a candidate three times in [[Elections in the United Kingdom|UK parliamentary elections]] - in 1997 at [[Chesterfield (UK Parliament constituency)|Chesterfield]] (receiving 202 votes), in 2007 at [[Sedgefield by-election, 2007|Sedgefield]] and in 2008 at [[Haltemprice and Howden by-election, 2008|Haltemprice and Howden]]. In Sedgefield, police were called to move him when he campaigned outside a supermarket.<ref name=founder/> In Haltemprice and Howden he came joint last with 8 votes.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7498330.stm|title=A record-breaking by-election?|date=11 July 2008|work=BBC News|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> He stood on an anti-crime platform and argued that "modern surveillance methods were as bad as the Nazis'".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jul/11/haltemprice.daviddavis?INTCMP=SRCH|title=David Davis surprises critics with relatively high turnout|last=Wainwright|first=Martin|date=11 July 2008|work=The Guardian|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> Scarth has also stood for his own Anti-Crime Party in local elections in Bradford, first standing in [[Bingley]] in 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/1316820.print/|title=Election hopefuls line up for ballot|last=Winrow|first=Jo|date=9 April 2007|work=Telegraph & Argus|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> He was arrested for shouting through a loudhailer outside a polling station in 2008, and challenged the election result, in which he received 66 votes, with the election commissioner.<ref name=loudhailer>{{cite news|url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/4348072.Candidate____shouted_abuse_with_loudhailer___/|title=Candidate ‘shouted abuse with loudhailer’|date=6 May 2009|work=Telegraph & Argus|accessdate=21 November 2011|location=Bradford}}</ref> A judged ruled that his case was "wholly misconceived".<ref name=brands>{{cite news|url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/4351898.Judge_brands_candidate__a_crazed_old_man_/|title=Judge brands candidate 'a crazed old man'|last=Winrow|first=Jo|date=8 May 2009|work=Telegraph & Argus|accessdate=21 November 2011|location=Bradford}}</ref> ==Legal matters== In 1990, Scarth argued that he was not wearing a seat belt because he was about to commit suicide, but his defence was not accepted by the court.<ref>Yorkshire Evening Post, cited in New statesman Society, volume 3, 1990.</ref> Scarth was the plaintiff in the case ''Scarth v. United Kingdom'' at the [[European Court of Human Rights]] (ECHR 33745/96) that resolved that private [[Hearing (law)|hearings]] in small claims arbitration at [[county court]]s breached [[Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights]].<ref>{{cite book|editor=C. E. F. Rickett, Thomas G. W. Telfer|title=International perspectives on consumers' access to justice|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DK1RLMwCQ5UC&pg=PA181|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=052182432X|page=181}}</ref> [[Civil Procedure Rules]] introduced in 1999 avoided further breaches.<ref>{{cite book|title=Gazette Committee of Ministers|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=PjH3_0KYqVEC&pg=PA15|volume=IV / 2000|date=April 2000|publisher=Council of Europe|isbn=9287143080|page=15}}</ref> Scarth was sentenced in 2001 to six years in jail for wounding, after he attacked a court bailiff with a chainsaw.<ref name=chainsaw>{{cite news|url=http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/central-leeds/six_years_for_chainsaw_pensioner_1_2064093|title=Six years for chainsaw pensioner|date=23 June 2001|work=Yorkshire Evening Post|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> He was in jail for four years, then spent two years in a psychiatric hospital. <ref name=loudhailer/><ref name=brands/> In July 2011 he was sentenced to six months imprisonment for [[Contempt_of_court#Criminal_contempt_of_court|contempt of court]] for his conduct after being discovered secretly recording a court hearing.ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-14680180</ref> <ref>http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/central-leeds/bradford_man_85_fails_in_jail_bid_1_3718522</ref> He did not have legal representation. He tried to get the High Court to grant ''[[habeus corpus]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/at-a-glance/main-section/bradford_ww2_veteran_fails_in_jail_release_bid_1_3718480|title=Bradford WW2 veteran fails in jail release bid|date=26 August 2011|work=Yorkshire Post|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> An appeals court reduced the sentence to 12 weeks because the sentencing judge had not considered Mr Scarth's medical records. He was described by the appeals judge as "a conspiracy theorist".<ref name=freed/><ref name=freed>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-14854070|title=Norman Scarth freed as Bradford contempt sentence cut|date=9 September 2011|work=BBC News|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> ==References== <references/> ==External links== *{{official|http://normanscarth.blogspot.com/}} *[http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/viewhbkm.asp?sessionId=54269614&skin=hudoc-en&action=html&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649&key=60795 Application No. 33745/96 by Norman SCARTH against the United Kingdom], ECHR *Election material: [http://by-elections.co.uk/haltemprice/Scarth.html Haltemprice and Howden], [http://www.by-elections.co.uk/sedgefield/Scarth.html Sedgefield] * [http://web.archive.org/web/20090507195933/http://www.anticrimeparty.com/ www.anticrimeparty.com /] on the [[Internet Archive]] * [http://web.archive.org/web/20090612125531/http://www.normanscarth.com/ www.normanscarth.com] on the [[Internet Archive]] {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> | NAME = Scarth, Norman | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 1925 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Scarth, Norman}} [[Category:English bloggers]] [[Category:1925 births]] [[Category:People from Bradford]] [[Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War II]] [[Category:English people convicted of assault]] [[Category:British political candidates]] [[Category:British politicians convicted of crimes]] [[Category:Independent politicians in England]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:English farmers]]'