A FORMER deputy chairman of the Liberal Democrats said he was victimised for battling corruption inside the party as he prepared to face trial tomorrow on charges of assault by beating.

Donnachadh McCarthy, who left the Liberal Democrats in 2007, will appear at Westminister magistrates’ court following his arrest during a democracy protest last year.

The environmental campaigner is accused of assaulting a Great London Authority heritage warden in Parliament Square, but he disputes the claim.