Former PCC candidate's injunction order extended

A former Police and Crime Commissioner candidate has had an injunction that prevents him from contacting a local MP and several councils extended.

Gloucestershire Constabulary originally placed the injunction on Matthew Randolph, 54, from Gloucester in July last year due to threatened use of violence.

Bristol County Court Judge Leslie Blohm KC last week granted an extension to this order until March 2027.

The court said it was satisfied that "the conduct complained of consists of or includes threatened use of violence or there was a significant risk of harm to a person".

Mr Randolph is prohibited from contacting Max Wilkinson, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham.

He is also banned from attending any Cheltenham Borough Council, Gloucester City Council and Tewkesbury Borough Council meetings.

The injunction includes a ban on him contacting any staff at Gloucester City Council, Cheltenham Borough Council or un the officers of the PCC.

It does not prevent him from sending any question he wishes to raise at such a meeting by e-mail, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In addition to the local authorities, Mr Randolph is not allowed to contact the Liberal Democrats' Cheltenham office or the public sector legal services provider One Legal.

In January last year, police were called to a Gloucester City Council meeting at which Mr Randolph, who raised a question about the level of consultation around planning applications for 5G masts, repeatedly ignored and defied the mayor.

As he left the meeting with supporters, Mr Randolph pointed at councillors with a rolled-up piece of paper and said he would take the council to court.

He stood as an independent candidate in the PCC elections in May last year and came fourth with 15,240 votes.