MP for St Helens South and Whiston cleared of assaulting political campaigner

A St Helens MP has been cleared of kicking a Yes campaigner outside a polling station on the day of the Scottish independence referendum.

Marie Rimmer, 69, MP for St Helens South and Whiston, had travelled from St Helens to Glasgow to help her party campaign in the final days of the referendum and was stationed at Shettleston community centre on the day of the vote, where she handed out leaflets opposite independence activists. She was accused of kicking Patricia McLeish outside the community centre but the case was found not proven following a trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court. The MP, who also sits on Labour’s justice committee, was cleared of a second charge of acting in a threatening or abusive manner at the polling station earlier this week.

A spokesman for Marie Rimmer MP said,  “twenty seven months after the Scottish Referendum and after seven trips and two trials Marie has been acquitted by the Sheriff in Glasgow. She’s pleased and wants to thank her legal team and the people of St Helens and Whiston for standing by her.”