Trial told of late vote `alarm bells'

THE JURY in the Mohammed Sarwar electoral fraud trial was told yesterday that "alarm bells" started ringing for Glasgow's chief electoral registration officer as hundreds of late applications to vote poured in from just a few city streets.

In one month in the run-up to the 1997 general election which saw Sarwar become Britain's first Muslim MP, 279 people made late applications to vote in his Glasgow Govan constituency. In other constituencies in the city, the numbers ranged from just two late applications to 52.

Sarwar, 46, denies electoral fraud, attempting to pervert the course of justice and making a false declaration of his electoral expenses. He and Mumtaz Hussain, 41, also deny conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The trial is expected to last up to eight weeks.