A Swindon councillor is facing more charges – including an alleged assault on a woman.
Wiltshire Police previously said that the now former Reform UK politician Lawrence Davies faced four charges in relation to driving-related offences.
It can now be revealed that the 54-year-old, of The Street, Moredon, is accused of assaulting a woman and perverting the course of justice.
Back in August the force told Wiltshire 999s that he had been charged with dangerous driving, failing to stop after a road traffic collision, being a driver of a vehicle involved in a collision and failing to report that collision and driving without insurance.
The charges were born out of an incident in Kingsdown Road on 13 April.
However, court documents now show that he has also been charged with assaulting a woman by beating her in Kingsdown Road on the same date.
A further charge alleges that between 12 April and 22 April, he deliberately used false registration plates on his vehicle with intent to pervert the course of public justice.
Davies is due to appear at Swindon Magistrates’ Court at 2pm tomorrow (Thursday, 24 September). He remains a sitting councillor, but is not a member of a political party.
The charges emerged after Davies announced that he had resigned from Reform UK over concerns about how the party was being governed.
He claimed Reform politicians were being told how to vote and that questions and speeches were being rewritten using AI.
Davies said: “I am no longer confident in the way the party is governed.
“I have been a long-standing Reform voter and campaigner, but I cannot with clear conscience continue to fight for Reform UK in Swindon when members are told how to vote and what to say by their officers and whip and every question and every speech is rewritten with AI.”
However, Reform UK subsequently said Davies had been suspended from the party after he was charged with the four motoring offences.
A national spokesperson said: “These are false accusations […].
“The reality is that Cllr Davies was suspended from Reform UK yesterday after he was charged with dangerous driving, failing to stop, failing to report and driving without insurance.
“We understand that he is due to appear in court in September.”
