Former MP Shahid Malik criticises Dewsbury MP Simon Reevell over legal work for convicted paedophiles
Dec 13 2010 by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner
A FORMER MP has criticised the man who beat him in this year’s general election for defending child sex offenders in court.
Labour’s Shahid Malik has accused Conservative MP Simon Reevell of an “extraordinary betrayal” of his Dewsbury constituents over the issue.
But the Tory responded that the former MP should “come to terms” with his defeat.
Mr Malik’s claims revolve around a piece which appeared in the Examiner on April 23, two weeks before the General Election.
In the article, Mr Reevell refused to rule out taking on new legal cases in his role as a barrister if he were elected to Parliament.
The Conservative said: “A lot of my practice has been prosecuting sex offenders.
“If there was a case with a repeat sex offender where my knowledge of the original trial was important, I would have to look at that.
“If I refused to help, it might increase the chances of someone accused of raping a child being acquitted.”
However, the article also makes clear this is one “possible situation” in which Mr Reevell would take on new legal work, as opposed to the “only situation”.
The Conservative went on to defeat Mr Malik by 1,500 votes at the General Election on May 6.
Mr Reevell earned more than £12,000 as a barrister in his first five months as an MP – including taking on new cases.
Mr Malik believes this shows his opponent deceived voters in the Examiner’s piece on April 23.
He said: “Like any barrister worth their salt, Mr Reevell carefully and deliberately chose his words and his emotive area of crime, fully understanding the anger and contempt voters have for paedophiles.
“He obviously calculated that if people were led to believe that he was the man who would condemn evil ‘child rapists’– as he termed them – to a life behind bars, then it would not only boost the way he was perceived but also boost his votes at the general election.”
Mr Malik noted that since the election the Conservative MP has earned money by defending paedophiles rather than prosecuting them.
