Convicted sex offender is standing as MP in Hartlepool by-election

A convicted sex offender is planning to stand for election as an MP in an upcoming by-election.

Christopher Killick is standing as a candidate in the Hartlepool by-election on May 6 - despite not telling voters about his conviction and the fact he's on the sex offenders' register.

Killick, 41, from north-west London, was sentenced for voyeurism last year for filming a naked woman in a hotel room while she was unconscious.

His victim Emily Hunt, who waived her right to anonymity, campaigned for five years for justice after initially claiming in 2015 that she was both drugged and raped by Killick after waking up in a hotel room in Bethnal Green with him with no memory of how she had got there.

Killick was initially arrested on suspicion of rape but police dropped the charge due to a lack of evidence.

However, during their investigation they discovered a 62-second video of Hunt lying naked on the hotel bed which Killick admitted to having taken for his later sexual gratification and said he knew it was "morally wrong" but did not think it was illegal.

Despite prosecutors telling her that the filming was not illegal multiple times, Hunt crowdfunded for a judicial review, but just before her legal challenge was due to be heard, the Court of Appeal ruled in a separate case that filming someone in an intimate act without consent was always unlawful.

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The decision not to prosecute Killick was reassessed and he was finally arrested and charged with voyeurism.

He admitted the charge and was ordered to pay his victim £5,000 in compensation and put on the Sexual Offenders Register for five years.

The conviction made national headlines as Hunt spoke about her campaign for justice.

Killick has since moved to Hartlepool and is now seeking to stand as MP in the forthcoming by-election.

He said he initially planned to tell voters about his convictions but "got a bit frightened".

"I do understand how it will be difficult for some people, perhaps everyone, to trust me," he said.

"When I didn’t put the sex offence on my election leaflet, I did that because I wanted to see what whether I’d be 'found out'.

"I suppose I knew it was going to come out eventually. I've been punished and I'm still being punished."

He said he had had a lot of time to think about his offence and it was a "mistake".

He added: "I’ve never underestimated the seriousness of the offence. I've always maintained that it was a big mistake and I want to say I’m sorry that she’s had to go through such a long process in order to get this conviction."

Killick moved to Hartlepool from London just a few weeks ago, and said he has already faced backlash for his history, including being thrown out of the Airbnb where he was originally staying after failed to disclose his position on the Sex Offenders' Register.

Before moving to the North East, he said he had asked for nominations to become MP on the website Next Door, but most people had told him to go away.

"I know there is going to be a lot of negativity, but I feel that if I don't try, I will never know whether I can make impact or impression in politics. And it's always been my ambition to be an MP.

"I'm doing an experiment to see how much publicity I can get. Not by speaking about the offence I committed, but by speaking about the stuff I really care about.

"The question is now, whether I'll be tolerated."