CPS announces man charged with arson at MP’s office
The Crown Prosecution Service has today announced Joshua Oliver has been charged with arson – following allegations of setting a fire at the offices of Sharon Hodgson MP in the Concord area of Washington, Tyne and Wear.
Christopher Atkinson of the Crown Prosecution Service said: "The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute Joshua Oliver with Arson following a police investigation into a fire at the offices of Sharon Hodgson MP.
“Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.
“We have worked closely with Northumbria Police as they carried out their investigation.”
Joshua Oliver will appear at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on 13 September.
We remind all concerned that proceedings against the defendant are active and he has the right to a fair trial.
It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.
Notes to editors
- Joshua Oliver (25/3/1997) is of no fixed abode
- Christopher Atkinson is the Head of the Complex Casework Unit for CPS North East
- The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a criminal court to consider
- The CPS assessment of any case is not in any sense a finding of, or implication of, any guilt or criminal conduct. It is not a finding of fact, which can only be made by a court, but rather an assessment of what it might be possible to prove to a court, in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
- It has been reported in some sections of the media that a political message was sprayed on the wall during the arson attack on these premises. This is incorrect – this writing had been sprayed on the side of the premises many months prior to this arson attack taking place.