Eastleigh man convicted of election fraud and ordered to complete 50 hours unpaid work

An Eastleigh man has received a community order for election fraud and ordered to undertake 50 hours unpaid work as a result.

Mitchell Christopher Edward Folland, aged 25, of Farm Road, Horton Heath in Eastleigh was found guilty of three counts of personation at local / parliamentary election at a recent hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court on Wednesday 2 November.

The court hear how clerks at a polling station on Hoddinott Road in Eastleigh asked for Folland to provide his name and address - to which he has spelt M.I.T.C.H.E.L.L - and given an address in order to receive ballot papers on Friday 6 May last year.

The clerks had then asked him if his name is CARROLL to which he has agreed. He accepted the voting papers for Eastleigh Borough Council, Hampshire County Council and the Police and Crime Commissioner elections; proceeding to go into a voting booth and spoil them, before posting them into the ballot box.

The court also heard how Mr Folland recorded the whole event on his mobile phone, whilst the device was in his pocket, and proceeded to upload it onto social media after the event.

Appearing at Portsmouth Crown Court on Thursday 24 November, Mitchell Christopher Edward Folland was convicted and given a community order to complete 50 hours unpaid work.

Investigating officer, Sarah Wincewicz said: “We are privileged in this country to live in a democracy, where citizens can exercise their right to vote in a range of elections. Mr Folland could have used the opportunity to exercise his own right to vote. Instead he not only deprived another citizen of being able to vote, but he did so in a way that voiced disdain for the system by openly mocking it, using social media as a platform for his antics.”