A former deputy electoral officer in Northern Ireland is to face 30 criminal charges,it was announced tonight.
Mr Alastair Patterson (58) who resigned as chief executive of the Ulster UnionistParty after his arrest, will face 17 charges of theft and 13 counts of falseaccounting when he appears before magistrates in Omagh on November 11th.
Mr Patterson, who lives near Dungannon, was the returning officer who declaredIRA hunger striker Bobby Sands' victory in the Fermanagh-South Tyrone electionin 1981.
Mr Patterson was one of two men questioned by police in July about allegationsof corruption.
Both were former employees of the Electoral Office and were interviewed aboutallegations of forgery, false accounting and corruption between 1996 and 2001.
A spokesman for the Ulster Unionist Party said tonight: "We note with regretthat charges have been brought against our former chief executive.
"Clearly the matter is now sub judice and we are not in a position to offerany further comment."
PA