A court heard that the Reform UK councillor was angry that a Conservative candidate suggested he was a racist

A Reform UK councillor posted a damning fake message about a Conservative candidate because he was angry she had suggested he was a racist in public, a court has heard.

The prosecution allege that Andy Osborn, 74, broke election law when he was chairman of the North East Cambridgeshire Reform Party. They said he made Samantha Hoy a “target with anger” during campaigning in the run-up to the May 2025 local poll for Cambridgeshire County Council.

A post stating “Samantha Hoy worked in the care industry but allegedly was sacked for fraud no wonder Wisbech is in such a state. Reform UK will fix it” appeared on a Facebook account on April 25, days before the election, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.

Osborn, who is a member of Cambridgeshire County Council, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of making or publishing a false statement and is charged under the Representation of the People Act 1983. He says his account was hacked.

The court heard the allegations stem from incidents in the build-up to the election which included a dispute between Reform UK campaigners, including Osborn, of March, Cambridgeshire. He was alleged to have told the mayor of Wisbech, councillor Sidney Imafidon, who is a black man, to “speak English”.

Police were called to the incident on April 11, which is said to have happened at Wisbech marketplace when questions were raised over whether Reform had a licence for a stall and if it was being used for political purposes, the court heard. Mr Imafidon asked them to move and the police were called.

Osborn, who has hearing problems, says he only asked Mr Imafidon to “speak clearly”.

Ms Hoy, a councillor for Wisbech South, claims that Osborn started an “argument unnecessarily” when she was with colleague Steve Tierney at a postal vote count on April 25. She told Osborn “isn’t it interesting that your hearing is working?” here at the count but not at the marketplace, she recalled while giving evidence on Wednesday (April 15).

Ms Hoy said Osborn “got quite angry, said I was calling him racist and we both walked off”, describing the scene as “quite embarrassing really when you are in a room full of people”. The offending message appeared online later that day.

Ms Hoy, who works in the care industry and has never been sacked or faced fraud allegations, later responded online describing the claims as “an absolute lie and extremely defamatory and damaging”.

Ms Hoy reported the matter to the police and took screenshots of messages from the account Osborn is alleged to have had. They said “I have taken a lot of slander in reference to me being a racist, I have family who are black and I am proud of them.”

The posts were publicly available for “months rather than weeks”, according to Ms Hoy, who told the court that she never received an apology.

Osborn stressed he did not write or publish the posts and his account was hacked, and suggested the culprit may have been a neighbour or an online troll. He recalled “struggling to hear because of the background noise” in the marketplace and said he did not tell Mr Imafidon to “speak English” but to “speak clearly”.

Osborn recalled that Ms Hoy told him at the postal count “oh, you can hear now there is not a black man in the room”. He was ‘offended’ by her comment but did not react, and told the court: “I am not a racist. I do not judge anybody by their skin colour.”

Osborn said “there was not any form of aggression or shouting” and he only ‘touched’ Mr Tierney on the shoulder and did not ‘poke’ him. Osborn does not have relatives who are black, he told the trial.

Under cross-examination, prosecutor Thomas Coke-Smythe said it would have been “absolutely catastrophic” for Osborn and the Reform party to have someone pretending to be him publishing messages online and it would need to be corrected, potentially with an apology.

Mr Coke-Smythe suggested Osborn was “furious” that Ms Hoy had called him a racist at the count and that he posted comments to the North East Cambridgeshire discussion page to “get back” at her. Osborn said: “I would not do it. I’m a 74-year-old man, about to be 75 – I want a peaceful life.”

Earlier Mia Gibson, defending Osborn, suggested that he “was not the author or maker” of any of the posts. She told Ms Hoy: “I’m going to suggest you have brought these proceedings against Mr Osborn to disparage him and his party.”

Ms Hoy denied this, saying: “No, why would I put myself through this for that?”