Rape charge politician wants to be next PCC of Nottinghamshire

A councillor who failed twice to become an MP pleaded his innocence inside a court against charges of raping a child — then outside promised to run for police and crime commissioner (PCC) to “take politics out of policing”.

Jason Zadrozny, who sits on both Ashfield Council and Nottinghamshire County Council, took the unusual step of announcing his intention to “stand up to” Nottinghamshire Police after his appearance before Mansfield magistrates on Wednesday (March 30).

He is accused of two charges of raping a boy under 16, three of sexual activity with a boy between 13 and 15, and four of indecent assault of a boy under 16. All the alleged offences are said to have taken place between 2003 and 2006.

District Judge Jonathan Taarfe sent the case for plea and direction to Nottingham Crown Court on April 27 after Mr Zadrozny’s defence lawyer, Mark Oates, said his client would “vehemently deny the charges” at his next appearance.

After the proceedings, Councillor Zadrozny stood outside the court with family and friends saying he was “looking forward to his day in court” and would be running for Nottinghamshire PCC, regardless of the ongoing legal battle.

His impromptu decision to tell the assembled his political intentions was a “last minute thing”. He said: “I decided it was the right time. I had hoped the allegations would have been dealt with by then.”

His next court appearance will be eight days before the PCC elections. But any trial will now not fall until after the May 5 polling day.

Under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, anyone with a criminal conviction is not allowed to stand as a PCC.

He argued that the charges were “absolutely the work of fantasy and that will be borne out”.

He added: “I`m looking forward to my day in Crown Court.

“I don`t want this to be dropped, I want to prove that I`m innocent, not that there`s not enough evidence, and that I`ve had my life ruined and plenty of people`s careers ruined by Nottinghamshire Police following such spurious allegations.”

He told Police Professional: “Someone needs to stand up to Nottingham Police. As far as I am concerned they are like the Keystone Cops — running around busily inventing things from start to finish in my case.

“This is not about me personally — it’s about the police and how seriously badly they have handled the whole court case.”

Councillor Zadrozny went on: “Politics should not be a part of policing. We need less interference from politics.

He said: “But I maintain that the police is politically controlled in Nottinghamshire — by the Labour party,” adding that there were forces at work who “did not want me to stand as a parliamentary candidate”.

Mr Zadrozny, 35, of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, became the youngest council leader in England in 2007.

He stood for the Liberal Democrats in Ashfield in the 2010 general election, and was selected to fight the same seat in 2015. However, the party suspended him after his arrest over the child sex allegations.

Meanwhile, ahead of the PCC elections, Home Secretary Theresa May has gone on the attack — claiming Independents cannot be trusted to keep communities safe.

She said Independent PCCs are more interested in using the role to “score political points”.

Warwickshire PCC Ron Ball, who is not standing in next month’s election, refuted the claims and said that most Independent candidates had chosen to stand precisely to keep politics out of policing.

The Conservatives gained the most PCCs at the inaugural 2012 elections, with 16, followed by Labour on 13. The remaining 12 were Independents.

As many as half of the PCCs elected in 2012 will not be seeking re-election.

Nottinghamshire`s current police and crime commissioner is Paddy Tipping, a former Labour MP.