Ashfield's Council Leader Invented a Charity to Take Public Money. A Jury Convicted Him of Fraud, and He Quit the Next Day.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
In short. A jury at Northampton Crown Court found Jason Zadrozny, leader of Ashfield District Council, guilty on 21 September 2026 of nine counts of fraud by false representation and four of fraudulently evading income tax, clearing him on three further fraud counts [1] [2]. He had invented a group called the Ashfield Heritage Society to draw grant money from Nottinghamshire County Council's councillors' discretionary fund, and later used a second group, the Classic Cinema Club, the same way [1] [3]. He resigned as council leader and quit the Ashfield Independents the following day, but has not resigned his council seat [4]. Sentencing is on 27 November 2026, and the judge has told him a custodial term is a real possibility [1] [2].
The scheme started with a name and a cause nobody was likely to question. In February 2018, Zadrozny set up the Ashfield Heritage Society, telling Nottinghamshire County Council it would look after local war memorials, and persuaded fellow councillors to direct money from their own discretionary budgets toward it [3] [5]. Prosecuting, James Varley KC told the jury that Zadrozny's pitch to the council was simple: "this is a genuine organisation, they need some funds," and the funds duly arrived [3]. An initial request brought in 7,500 pounds within three days of the society's bank account being opened; a further 1,600 pounds followed, requested for "commemorative events, badges, poppies and road decorations" [3]. Investigators later found no evidence the society had ever done any of that work, or existed as anything beyond a bank account with Zadrozny as its sole holder [1].
What the money actually paid for
The fund in question is Nottinghamshire County Council's councillors' discretionary budget, a small annual allowance each county councillor can direct toward community groups in their division [1] [3]. Court reporting during the trial put the total cash withdrawn from the two accounts at 10,300 pounds: 9,100 pounds from the Heritage Society account and 1,200 pounds from the Classic Cinema Club account [3] [2]. The Crown Prosecution Service's own figure for what the nine proven counts of fraud obtained is smaller, 6,200 pounds, since the cinema club had a genuine origin before Zadrozny began drawing on its funds and the jury acquitted him on three of the twelve fraud counts he faced [1] [2]. Financial analysis presented at trial traced the withdrawn cash to Zadrozny's own overdrafts and a contribution toward a house purchase [1]. The four tax evasion counts, all found proved unanimously, concerned income he did not declare from four rental properties he owned [2].
The jury took 10 hours and 47 minutes to reach its verdicts: five of the nine guilty counts were unanimous, four were reached by an 11 to 1 majority, and all four tax counts were unanimous [2]. Sentencing His Honour Judge David Herbert KC told Zadrozny after the verdicts that "absolutely uppermost in my mind is a custodial sentence," adding that "the breach of trust element makes them particularly serious" [2]. He granted bail to the sentencing hearing on 27 November [2] [1].
A leader, then not
Zadrozny led Ashfield District Council for the Ashfield Independents, the local party he co-founded, and had represented the area on Nottinghamshire County Council from 2007 until he lost his county seat to Reform UK at the May 2025 elections [6]. He kept the district council leadership through the trial, which opened at Northampton Crown Court on 24 August 2026 after being moved from Nottinghamshire at the defence's request [3]. The day after the verdicts, he announced his own resignation: "Following yesterday's verdicts, I have decided to resign as leader of Ashfield District Council," and separately, "I am also resigning from the Ashfield Independents group with immediate effect" [4]. He has not resigned his council seat, telling reporters he was "considering things more deeply" on that question [4].
Ashfield District Council said it was "looking at governance options that would elect a new leader as soon as possible" and that services would continue uninterrupted in the meantime [4]. Lee Anderson, the Ashfield MP, said Zadrozny "has brought shame upon our area and local politics" and that voters "were quite clearly duped by a sinister and manipulative con artist," calling for him to give up his council seat too so a by-election could be held [5].
Under the Localism Act 2011, a councillor given a custodial sentence of three months or more, including a suspended sentence of that length, is automatically disqualified from office [2]. That is the threshold Judge Herbert's sentencing remarks were addressed to on 27 November: whether Zadrozny remains a councillor at all may turn on the same hearing that decides how long, if at all, he goes to prison.
Sources
- Crown Prosecution Service, East Midlands, "Nottinghamshire councillor guilty of fraud", 21 September 2026. https://www.cps.gov.uk/east-midlands/news/nottinghamshire-councillor-guilty-fraud
- Yahoo News UK / PA, "Nottinghamshire council leader Jason Zadrozny guilty of fraud and income tax offences", 21 September 2026. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/nottinghamshire-council-leader-jason-zadrozny-121813577.html
- LBC, "Council leader convicted of fraud following £9,000 fake heritage society scam resigns", 22 September 2026. https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/council-leader-convicted-of-fraud-resigns-5HjdhpC_2/
- Yahoo News / BBC, Hugh Casswell, "Fraudster council leader who stole thousands from taxpayers resigns", 22 September 2026. https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/fraudster-council-leader-stole-thousands-171700826.html
- Ashfield Reform UK, "Ashfield MP calls on Leader of Ashfield Council to resign following fraud conviction", 21 September 2026. https://www.ashfieldreformuk.com/post/ashfield-mp-calls-on-leader-of-ashfield-council-to-resign-following-fraud-conviction
- Yahoo News UK, "Jason Zadrozny unseated as county councillor by Reform UK after nearly 20 years", May 2025. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/jason-zadrozny-unseated-county-councillor-115518002.html