A Nottinghamshire councillor who was convicted in court for careless driving and harassment offences has confirmed he will be standing again in May's elections. Tom Hollis, who currently serves as the lead member for council and social housing on Ashfield District Council, appeared in court last September and was found guilty of harassing his neighbours.
He was also found guilty of careless driving in his Range Rover after a night out at the bingo. Mr Hollis serves as a member of the Ashfield Independents, who currently control the council, on behalf of the Huthwaite and Brierley ward.
Following his conviction last year, Mr Hollis said he needed a "period of time to reflect" on whether he would stand again in this year's elections. But in the statement of people nominated to stand, Tom Hollis appears once again as a candidate for Huthwaite and Brierley on behalf of the Ashfield Independents.
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Ashfield District Council is one of the seven district and borough authorities across Nottinghamshire where elections will be held on May 4, whilst members of Nottingham City Council will also be elected. Speaking after his conviction last year, Tom Hollis said: "I hope this hasn't damaged my reputation irrecoverably and I sincerely hope over the coming months and years I can rebuild the public trust in me."
Mr Hollis is still the subject of a 12-month community order that was imposed when he was sentenced. He was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid community work, pay his victims £500 each in compensation, pay a £95 victim surcharge and pay court costs of £1,000.
Tom Hollis had been serving as Ashfield District Council's deputy leader until his conviction. He also currently serves as a member of Nottinghamshire County Council, where the next elections are due in 2025.
Jason Zadrozny, the leader of Ashfield District Council, previously told Nottinghamshire Live why he would be comfortable with Tom Hollis standing again. He said: "I wouldn't say [events like Hollis' conviction] don't matter because we take everything seriously, but because we're independents, we're not campaigning on elect the Ashfield Independents.
"We're saying in Underwood, elect David Martin, in Stanton Hill, elect Helen-Ann Smith, and each of those people go in on their record. Of course we work collaboratively as a team because that's how you get stuff done, but Tom will have to put himself forward in Huthwaite and see if the people elect him or not.
"But in all of those other seats I'll be saying what they've done and look what they're doing. Everybody has their own record to go on."
Other candidates standing in the Huthwaite and Brierley ward for Ashfield District Council on May 4 include Paul Grafton for the Ashfield Independents, John Howlett and Graham Lynk for the Conservatives and Stefan Lamb and Jayne Lilliman for Labour.
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