Support our Nation today - please donate here
News

‘Rogue builder’ UKIP chairman is now a magistrate

14 Oct 2023 5 minute read
Ben Walker

Martin Shipton

The national chairman of UKIP – the UK Independence Party – which is holding its annual conference in Newport, is a convicted “rogue builder” who now sits as a magistrate in the west of England, we can reveal.

Ben Walker, a former member of South Gloucestershire Council who also stood unsuccessfully as a Parliamentary candidate in the 2015 general election, was ordered to pay more than £11,000 after being found guilty of five breaches of building regulations at Bristol Magistrates Court in 2019. He was fined £2,000 for each conviction and in addition had to pay costs of £1,519.18 and a victim surcharge of £170. The case went ahead in his absence.

South Gloucestershire Council prosecuted Mr Walker – a builder trading as Monkeyfist Construction of Bradley Stoke, near Bristol – after he was found to have ignored building regulations and carried out unsatisfactory work at a property in Yate, South Gloucestershire.

The court heard that Mr Walker carried out building work to extend a property in Yate and had assured the homeowners that he could deliver the project within their budget before Christmas 2017. However, after some months, the homeowners noticed little progress given the length of time that had passed and the amount of money paid by them to the builder.

Serious failures

The homeowners sought the advice of an independent builder, which ultimately led to alerting South Gloucestershire Council’s building control team that no application had been made for the work. A number of serious failures were found with the construction design and build, which required significant remedial work to ensure the stability and weather resistance of the building.

Cllr Paul Hughes, South Gloucestershire Council’s cabinet member responsible for Communities and Tourism, said at the time: “This case demonstrates the importance of ensuring the correct route is followed when undertaking any building work. Construction is a complex arena where unscrupulous individuals can take advantage of customers’ unfamiliarity with legislation, and profit from cutting corners. If a contractor, homeowner or member of the public are not sure of their responsibilities then they should contact our building control team and we will offer help and guidance to all of our residents.”

It has emerged, however, that Mr Walker has since been appointed as a magistrate.

Justice of the Peace

A source contacted us with details of his convictions and the fact that he was now putting the initials JP after his name, indicating that he was a Justice of the Peace, an alternative title for a magistrate. The source questioned how an individual who had been convicted of offences in court could become a magistrate.

In an email to party members headed Ben Walker JP, National Party Chairman, Mr Walker wrote: “Despite the ‘loony left’ trying to cancel our party conference, UKIP members are invited to descend on Newport, Wales on Saturday October 14 2023. This is our 30th anniversary conference and we need as many members as possible to attend and celebrate with friends and be part of what will be our best conference yet.”

Among the speakers will be party leader Neil Hamilton, a former MS who represented Mid and West Wales from 2016 to 2021.

When we asked the Ministry of Justice to comment, we were sent a lengthy official document covering issues like the appointment of magistrates. It included a section which said: “The Senior Presiding Judge will not appoint anyone in whom the public would be unlikely to have confidence.

“When considering candidates who have been the subject of any order of a court, whether civil or criminal, Advisory Committees need to consider the nature of the matter; how long ago it occurred; any penalty or order; the seriousness of any offence; and any subsequent behaviour or further offences.

“If the Advisory Committee decides to recommend a candidate with convictions … it must set out its reasons in the appointments’ submission. A candidate who shows a disregard for the law must not be recommended for appointment.”

When we sought further clarification relating to Walker’s appointment, a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman sent us a statement which said: “People applying to become a magistrate are rigorously assessed before being appointed by the Senior Presiding Judge.

“Anyone with a previous conviction faces additional robust scrutiny but it is right that people who have long turned their backs on crime have an opportunity to pay society back by volunteering as a magistrate. Applicants will not be appointed if their offence impacts public confidence in their work.”

The following points were also made:

* If the Advisory Committee – which manages the recruitment of magistrates – does consider recommending the appointment of a magistrate with a previous offence, they have to look carefully at the nature and seriousness of the offence and any subsequent behaviour.

* Any applicant who has a previous offence must disclose this to the Advisory Committee. If they decide to recommend the applicant, any offences will be flagged to the Senior Presiding Judge, who makes the final decision on appointment.

* Having been convicted of a previous offence does not automatically exclude someone being appointed as a magistrate.

* Following a specified period of time – which varies according to the disposal administered or sentence passed – all cautions and most convictions resulting in custodial sentences of up to and including four years, may become spent, which means the individual is treated as rehabilitated in respect of that offence. For those receiving fines (as in this case), their conviction becomes spent after one year if they are over 18.

* When working, all magistrates are supported by trained legal advisers.

When we asked Mr Walker to comment, he took issue with the use of the word “convicted”, despite the fact that it was used by the local authority which prosecuted him.

He said: “I was fined. Never convicted. If I was convicted, I would have a police/court record. I don’t. I certainly don’t advertise my position.”


Support our Nation today

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
42 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Jones Arfon
Jones Arfon
11 months ago

How can you be fined without being convicted?

I wouldn’t have confidence in him as a JP frankly.

Marc
Marc
11 months ago
Reply to  Jones Arfon

I wouldn’t have confidence in him as a JP, a politician or a builder frankly

Seasaim liom féin
Seasaim liom féin
11 months ago
Reply to  Jones Arfon

I have 100% confidence in him.
(In him being a rogue!)

Jeff
Jeff
11 months ago

One of the questions to be a magistrate comes under “good character”.
Looked into it a while back. No formal qualifications are needed.

Mike
Mike
11 months ago
Reply to  Jeff

A bent magistrate, what ever next!

What’s come out so far is only the tip of a giant iceberg.

Whether or not he gets his collar felt as is richly deserved, depends on only one thing, and that is the mainstream press – apologies to Nation Cymru – consider the blighter worthy of space and take up the story.

Steve Woods
Steve Woods
11 months ago

Being a magistrate is a public office.

This ‘man’ has shown by his actions to be unfit to clean a public toilet.

Call Me Dick
Call Me Dick
11 months ago
Reply to  Steve Woods

UKIP is or was until recently filled with top-drawer baristas like PW, AR, PO, JR-the-dim, and an ace solicitor EJ, all to feature soon, so I don’t think this smashing bloke who had or could have had their exspurt guidance needs to lose a wink of sleep about having his collar felt by other masons. The pettifoggers must have found a leapfrog over The Judicial Conduct (Magistrates) Rules 2023 and 2014, and to deem convictions not to count as convictions….. But “Do you have a conviction?” “No, I don’t” (because I have five, not one) just might not cut the… Read more »

Robin Lynn
Robin Lynn
11 months ago

Justice of the Peace or Just taking the p**s

Y Cymro
Y Cymro
11 months ago

They’ll let anyone become a magistrate in England these days it seems. 🙄

Richard Thomas
Richard Thomas
11 months ago
Reply to  Y Cymro

And let anyone have a party conference in Wales. It’s an embarrassment that this is being staged in Newport.

Serena D.
Serena D.
11 months ago
Reply to  Richard Thomas

Lots of drug peddlers are found in South Wales. Why are so many connected to this pretend-party?

Pleb from the South
Pleb from the South
11 months ago

I didn’t believe it when a friend telephoned me yesterday to give me this news. But then I looked at my junk emails, to find there were three from him, from 28 Sep, 5 Oct and yesterday, and he’s advertising his JP status multiple times in each. There may be earlier ones but it goes back only a month. I cannot think of a person more totally unsuited to being a magistrate or of holding any position of power, however humble, in any law-abiding organisation. When in the beginning of the year I quit, I did so only because of… Read more »

Mike Shaw
Mike Shaw
11 months ago

This case is only one of many examples of his character flaws.! Possibly the main reason why confidence in UKIp evaporated faster than a moonshot, when he secured the chairman position

Jane Milton
Jane Milton
11 months ago

He is the reason why I left UKIP. I do not know which is more shocking, the fact that he has been made a magistrate or the fact that he is clearly so proud of his new title. It is a sad indictment of the state of our country that someone like this can be chosen as a magistrate. Many good people have been thrown out of the party because they dared to query his style of leadership.

Sarah Good
Sarah Good
11 months ago

Does Newport have a venue small enough for a UPRIK conference?

Mike
Mike
11 months ago
Reply to  Sarah Good

No, Newport lost all its old-style phoneboxes in last millennium and so UPRIK booked the Neon. Then UKIPWales streamed on Facebook Conflatulence videos of boring ignorant or untruthful speakers but taken wideangle from the back of the hall, revealing the auditorium was all but empty. Must be trouble at mill now, this evidence won’t help when the next legacy gets challenged by the estate’s executors.. UPRIK is about nothing at all except trousering money from suckers or the uninformed. I had Pinocchio’s number many years ago.

Dai
Dai
11 months ago

Hats off to Nation Cymru, you had me riled up over this outrage, until I got to “Mr Walker…took issue with the use of the word “convicted”, despite the fact that it was used by the local authority which prosecuted him. He said: “I was fined. Never convicted. If I was convicted, I would have a police/court record.”…. But if you got a fine in a magistrate’s court, it is because you were convicted. There is no other possible way it could happen, like Jones Arfon wrote. NO MAGISTRATE HOWEVER STUPID OR DRUNK COULD POSSIBLY THINK OTHERWISE. A few minutes… Read more »

Seasaim liom féin
Seasaim liom féin
11 months ago

DID HE FAIL TO DISCLOSE THESE CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS WHEN HE APPLIED?
Does Walker’s idiotic B.S. (above), that because it was the council not CPS prosecuting him in court, him being found guilty, they don’t count as convictions?
So sounds if it could be he concealed all five in his magistrate’s application?
Which would be a serious offence. Should be punishable by imprisonment under the Judicial Conduct (Magistrates) Rules 2014?
Ignorance of the law, as JPs tell the public with pleasure, is no defence or excuse.
If porridge isn’t served, could freemasonry be a factor? Stinks.

Crwtyddol
Crwtyddol
11 months ago

Speaking as a JP of 10 years, you are not meant to use the initials JP with your name unless it is relevant, for instance, in giving a personal reference, etc. You are not meant to advertise to all and sundry your position, simply to give you perceived status. It seems he is falling into this last category and on that basis, a formal issue could be raised.

crofennog crofftwr
crofennog crofftwr
11 months ago
Reply to  Crwtyddol

Searching, there are many online articles about the same person. bristolpost.co.uk (2019) suggests he was lucky to be “spared prison”, because the breaches of the law were so bad. Did the presiding judge indicate because these were his first “convictions”, he wasn’t instead charged with something rather more serious, which could have been heard in Crown Court. Would he then have been sent down? If that isn’t accurate, how come the article is still there four years later? In order-order.com (2018) there’s proof indicating he was also involved in bribery. searchlightmagazine.com (2023) suggests UKIP is used by Walker for procuring… Read more »

Lee Thacker
Lee Thacker
11 months ago

Should he be using the letters JP in a letter to party members? I didn’t think that was allowed. I seem to remember a Labour RCT councillor being admonished when he mentioned he was a magistrate in an election leaflet.

crofennog crofftwr
crofennog crofftwr
11 months ago
Reply to  Lee Thacker

Sure, fine and dandy but obtaining a position as a JP by deceptions is a serious crime and must be prosecuted.
Speaking to the Bristol Post, what he got done for wasn’t a mere case of someone carrying out a spot of buildings works forgetting to get permission.
It was serious and it’s sickening he got let off with a tiny fine.
I’m still finding more and more, shows how broken Britain is that people like him are not only out and about and allowed to become magistrates and councillors, he’s on Cam Parish Council, unelected.

Another Wigan Wanderer
Another Wigan Wanderer
11 months ago

TL; DR article and replies
Why are you people so het up about this fantasist, chancer, lifelong loser, grifter and, I note from him publicising his ill-gotten fleeting JP status, fool?
He brown-noses ex-MP ex-AM ex-Human Neil Hamilton.
Yes. THAT Neil Hamilton.
Nothing more need be said about this Noddy Nobody Cygan.
His sprogs will grow up to learn what dad was and is. A worse fate than any revenge you could dream up. Stop letting him live rent-free in your heads.

Rear-Admiral Tyndale Blower
Rear-Admiral Tyndale Blower
11 months ago

People should make allowances for a War Hero who put his life on the line for you. His UKIP Leadership and NEC web-pages state Ben Walker saw active service in the Falklands, even though the last action in Malvinas was in 1982 when he was four years old. It is the thought that counts. Those pages also say he served in the Afgan War, so even if it is unclear which of Afghan’s many wide rivers his ship sailed up, that should be recognised. When Ben Walker stood for UKIP Leader in 2017, his web-site said he’d been an Officer… Read more »

Call Me Dick
Call Me Dick
11 months ago

But, aside from being a bully, cheat and a liar, a smashing bloke, or so the thousand, whoops meant hundred, oops more like dozen, wowzer it’s only three, starstruck Young Backwarders gush? Their bubbles burst when they learn about Google, or Daddy yells at them about Neil Hamilton. But starlet of the Neon show was the Plastic Blow-Up Dollop, a dead-ringer for Marilyn Monroe in the eyes of the blind dementia-sufferers who make up UKIP’s membership. It wasn’t just a few, rather a Royal Naval shore barracks’ full of Bedbugs that bit her on her Troutlips, and she didn’t even… Read more »

Another Wigan Wanderer
Another Wigan Wanderer
11 months ago

@Rear Admiral, we already did it. He never made it even to Petty Officer, leave aside to becoming an Officer. His only ranks were Seaman and Leading Seaman. — All his Armed Forces service was as a deskbound clerk in the Royal Navy Stores Department, they call them “accountants” — Closest he got to active service in the Afghan (“Afgan”, lol) was dangerously shuffling around pieces of paper and bravely tapping away as a Keyboard Warrior on the other side of the Gulf. Was it Qatar, I did a map but have forgotten. — Reminds me, he almost never served… Read more »

DANIEL
DANIEL
11 months ago

Entertaining, but if author or commenters think the war hero is riled by this they don’t get the man. He’s c**k’a’hoop at the publicity, feels mighty important, helps make up for the humiliation, ridicule, exposures and bullying in school, RN, businesses, UKIP etc. If they think Southwest Advisory is going to fix this, they’re just as wrong. Don’t they know the power of the All-Seeing Eye, that square and interlocked compasses? Admitting they screwed up so badly won’t happen, and I guess he got appointed under a Diversity Quota. I can think of several groups he’d qualify under. Doubt he’d… Read more »

The Donkeys Trust
The Donkeys Trust
11 months ago

Late on the scene here, but why did UKIP’s board of directors, NEC, etc permit this chancer to personally seize absolute control of everything on 10 May 2021, when a declaration was filed that he 100% controlled a Trust which itself 100% controlled UKIP Ltd.? _________ While there can’t be any connection, UKIP hasn’t declared to the regulator anything at all in donations and bequests received since that date, as it must for all but the tiniest receipts. A very serious criminal offence to get this wrong. _________ Coincidentally, since 2021 UKIP has been increasingly involved with people with serious… Read more »

Serena D.
Serena D.
11 months ago

More commenters here than they’ve activists! Reading this shows why nobody in the pretend-party was more universally hated. Googling, why has the gentleman, sometimes using different variations of his name, set up so many different companies, many short-lived and so never filing any financials? There is a distinct whiff of ordure in the air. But I’m sure his establishment chums are looking the other way so he’s a permanent fixture both in the dead party and on the beaks’ benches. He’s not even worth holding in contempt.

WELLINGBOROUGH
WELLINGBOROUGH
11 months ago

OPEN LETTER TO CAM PARISH COUNCILLOR MAGISTRATE BENJAMIN LEE WALKER “JP” Without shame, you have none, you plotted and schemed and achieved the downfall of three or four UKIP Leaders, detroying those you could not bribe, each may be flawed but a hundred times better than you and your companion LIAR AND CHEAT, all to install your puppet dementia patients into every important position. All the good hardworking loyal kippers you drove away or they left hearing about your crookedness. You hide from being a Director but still control all of UKIP, power without responsibilities and account-ability. Or so you… Read more »

Pleb from the South
Pleb from the South
11 months ago

What, this truthfest is STILL going strong? A power-crazed bully, always claiming to be “bullied” and persecuted, even back to when his companies debts to HMRC and so many others were exposed, and he thought it wise to leave the Tories, has destroyed a party so many were proud of. I don’t have problems with the nominal Leader, except he didn’t fire this recidivist. I wonder how many young scrotes and old lags from Cheltenham to St David’s, even the few not yet attracted by trade opportunities within the party given its being walkered down the drainhole, must be celebrating… Read more »

New Ghengis III
New Ghengis III
11 months ago

Off topic maybe but maybe not. I’ve had a great idea for a new fictional Soap Thriller. Maybe some media organisation might run with it. Setting: A once very successful political party is declining. A new leader is constitutionally elected unopposed. New leader duly appoints Deputy Leader and party spokespersons. New leader appoints new party chairperson and appointment is approved by The National Executive Committee as per the party constitution. Incumbent Chairman sits at his desk having a flashback. Flashback shows a courtroom scene from before his chairmanship when he was running a building company. Judge fines him a five… Read more »

J. Goddard
J. Goddard
11 months ago

If this isnt an April Fool prank, this explains why U.K.I.P. is such a smash hit at elections. Dont know which is more shocking about this “magistrate”, his integrity, as in total lack of, or his wisdom, as in total lack of. Get him to pay back everything and then THROW THE FLAMING KEY AWAY ! ! ! ! ! !

Even his Sis.
Even his Sis.
11 months ago

Like, EVERYBODY loathes this friendless plonker? Those convicted drug-offenders of Llanelli and Pembroke can’t be commenting here.

Another Wigan Wanderer
Another Wigan Wanderer
11 months ago

One of this crook’s buddies and imports into UKIP, a fellow intellectual, Dan Morgan, who evidently runs UKIP Wales, was convicted back in January for his major role in a massive insurance scam. – – – – – – So, when does Dan Moron become a JP too? He can learn from an expert that convictions don’t count as convictions unless one is physically imprisoned……… – – – – – – The scam was described by the Swansea Crown Court Judge as a “deliberate, planned fraud carefully structured and fraudulent from its inception”, with at the core of the conspiracy… Read more »

Formerly a Bradley Stoker
Formerly a Bradley Stoker
11 months ago

Found this thanks to reader responses to articles about convicted drug criminals in Llanelli and Pembroke and the convicted Ukip Voice Of Wales conman, all connected one way or another to the subject of this. Rogue builder virtually got away with murder for years because tories allowed this councillor some oversight in building-planning! Many whistleblow and journal pages are still online, about his OPPO and all the unpaid debts including HMCR and local suppliers, people who’s properties he bungled. When scandals mounted he was “bullied” out, his description not mine, and left the tories. Finally he got done but beats… Read more »

George Gartside, RN
George Gartside, RN
11 months ago

Your Worship , my niece Hetty Numatic was driving a bit Reckless like , and was stopped by an un Marked cop car . No drugs . In Jan , she is due at Cheltenham MC . Your appointment to the Bench was a Stroke of luck ! When , on 6 Dec 2017 , you tried to Bribe my kid brother , a bit of a Sucker but a genuine war hero , not a bean counter or rank bumper , the rate was £30k , give or take. That was for a year , not one off ,… Read more »

George Gartside, RN
George Gartside, RN
11 months ago

Link, Your Worship , is order-order.com/people/ben-walker …………. like with your five convictions in 2019 for cheating etc over building works , we can be sure you kept the Judicial Appointments Panel “in the loop” and they confirm this meets the ethical standards for a Magistrate under the All – Seeing Eye . Please reply here with the Written Quotation for Hetty , thankyou . ~~ Big George, RN.

Lee
Lee
9 months ago

It seems clear from this article and his response to the paper that this Walker failed to disclose his five offences on his Magistrates Application, for which convictions never get expunged, lapsed or wiped clean. As Arfon Jones observed, Walker denying they were convictions is outrageous. I got in touch with the Judicial Appointments board. It was made clear to me that no one with his criminal rap sheet, ignoring all the many things I read about via google that he thinks he’s got away with, would be considered remotely fit to be a JP. Magistrates are fond of telling… Read more »

Doctor Trousers
9 months ago
Reply to  Lee

Were all the scandals, with his Capo having opened the portals of heaven at UKIP to a convicted drug-dealer {{with ten other convictions}} and his two Llanelli mates {{bringing it to twenty-four criminal convictions between the three}}, yet another twice-convicted drug-offender with many other convictions too, and now a fraudster recently sentenced for his role in a cynical confidence scam played on thousands of elderly or vulnerable victims, finally proving too much for Mr. Hamilton to endure? —– Even his spotless reputation might suffer when it turns out that, lurking in the shadows, there’s also a rogue builder with five… Read more »

F Hillberg
F Hillberg
8 months ago

Just a misunderstanding of a change in Building Regs. Happens all the time ,even with majors builders. You may have discovered this if you have bought one of their houses.

The Bradley Stoker
The Bradley Stoker
8 months ago
Reply to  F Hillberg

Your hero worship for more than a decade does you credit, but even Brave Cat Millie must be hissing that you picked the wrong bloke to make excuses for.
Read https://twitter.com/ladydetectives1?
JW

Our Supporters

All information provided to Nation.Cymru will be handled sensitively and within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 2018.