Councillor Resigns Over Criminal Charge

Stoke councillor Dave Dennis has resigned from his position as Nightlife Secretary after city prosecuters announced he would face charges over claims he dodged an ASBO.

Councillor Dennis will be charged with perverting the course of justice, as will his former wife Sharon, mother to two of his eight children. They will appear at Fenton Magistrates Court on 14 February.

The charges relate to an incident that took place in Hanley in August 2003. It is alleged that Mr Dennis asked his wife to accept an ASBO on his behalf.

The alleged offence is said to have taken place on 16 August 2003. After leaving a friend's birthday party at gentlemen's club Lapland UK, owned by local business magnate Dave Munton, it is claimed that the councillor got into a dispute with a tramp in the club's car park, a dispute that lead to fisticuffs. The tramp took a pasting and has no memory of the fight. Mrs Dennis told Staffordshire Police she had beaten the tramp and was given an ASBO.

After their separation, Mrs Dennis claimed in a radio interview on Big Steve's Crazy Breakfast Explosion on Signal Radio that her husband had beaten the tramp "to a bloody pulp" but asked her to "take one for the team". She said she had always wanted an ASBO for the street cred and did what her husband asked.

Dave Munton: "I run a clean titty bar"

Dave Munton voiced his anger after the original incident. "I run a clean titty bar and incidents like this tarnish its reputation. You may as well just come and rub some shit in my face. Go on, do it. Do it now," he told The Daily Oatcake in 2003.

Stoke City Council elders are said to be pleased with Dennis's resignation.