Freelance reporter's investigation leads to jail term for councillor

Freelance journalist Richard Orange played a key role in bringing a council misconduct case to court, which has resulted in the jailing of a former council leader for 18 months. , The freelance journalist, who runs the Lincoln-based Orchard News Bureau, spotted alterations to the councillor's written declaration of interests, which led him on a trail that ended in the witness box at crown court. , Coun Jim Speechley, former leader of Lincolnshire County Council, was jailed on Friday for misconduct in public office. The judge said the sentence reflected the serious nature of the crime. , He was found guilty of trying to influence the route of a new by-pass to enclose his land in a new development belt, which would have significantly increased its value. , Richard uncovered the potential wrong-doing when he was following up straightforward member interests stories from public documents. , The case centred on a field which the councillor had declared as an interest in 2001, but rather than being a new investment, Richard discovered the field had been under Speechley’s ownership for the last 30-40 years. Richard and a fellow journalist (Matthew Gull of the BBC) began researching whether or not Speechley had lawfully declared his interest in the land when initially discussing the project at council meetings. , Richard said: "I had also begun asking questions about a story involving a key council audit and when I went back through the notebooks of different committees I again spotted the information about Speechley going to these meetings. , "From my notes I was able to locate a number of other meetings where he failed to declare his interest. , "I did not think this was anything other than a straightforward failure to declare an interest, which was dropped on a technicality. , "But the police investigation then found he had actually drawn the line on the map of where he preferred the route to go, which led to the charge of misconduct in public office." , In his opening address to the Jury, Speechley's defence barrister William Harbage QC said: "We are here because when Mr Orange discovered the land, the county council officers thought it would look bad - the fact that they had spent months and months doing absolutely nothing and now somebody was digging around." , Richard testified that Speechley had not declared his interest in the scheme during any of the meetings. , He said: "Giving evidence was not as challenging as I thought it would be. , "It was all factual and I was happy to co-operate.", Speechley has signalled his intention to appeal against both the conviction and the sentence and thus remains a councillor. , Full Story : Hold the Front Page