A fine levied against the borough's Mayor and his wife for the unauthorized absence of their daughter from school has been withdrawn.
It was third time lucky for the borough's legal eagles who succeeded in getting their own case against the Mayor Cllr Liaquat Ali reopened at Redbridge Magistrates Court, Barkingside this morning.
Once the case was open, they withdrew their claim, and the court withdrew the £200 fine handed down to the couple at Waltham Forest Magistrates Court, Forest Road, Walthamstow on March 31.
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Cllr Ali, who did not attend the hearing, said he was pleased with the result but added: "I'm a bit disappointed that it's come to this and it wasn't my fault. I did the decent thing straight away.
"It's not really on to tarnish the name of an impeccable councillor since 1994."
The council claimed Cllr Ali's son Mohammed Ali had paid the original fine of £50 for each parent after they took their 14-year-old daughter on the Hajj pilgrimage in December last year.
District Judge John Woollard spent several minutes studying statements put before him by Cllr Ali, Mr Ali and finance officer Mr Payliss, before saying that he was satisfied with the council's explanation.
He told the court Mr Ali did not bring the fine's "TPI number" with him so finance officers did not pass the cheque on to the education department, leaving it in a safe.
Mr Ali agreed to return with the number but did not do so.
The department then took the Mayor and his wife Zailnab, of Carisbrooke Road, Walthamstow, to court for non payment of the fine.
It was not until Mr Ali went back to the department and was recognised by a finance officer, that it was revealed the cheque had not been passed on.
DJ Woollard said: "On that basis the prosecution should not have proceeded and a conviction should not have been recorded."
However the district judge expressed surprise that it was not possible to identify the person paying without a number.
Referring to the original case being heard in Waltham Forest, he added: "It does seem somewhat surprising to me that nobody recognised the significance of the person they were dealing with.
"They should at least have moved the case somewhere else."
Cllr Ali is a magistrate at Waltham Forest.
Two previous attempts to get the case reopened were turned down by DJ Woollard who asked to see evidence of the council's claim.
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