A Reform UK candidate who used fake AI legal cases to support her claim when she sued over her election defeat has been handed a £19,000 court bill.

Liz Williams lost to Green candidate Hannah Robson in an election for the Littletons ward in Worcestershire after recounts left them tied on 889 votes in May.

The election was decided by random, with two ballot papers placed in a box and Ms Robson's name being pulled out, who took her seat on the county council.

Ms Williams went on to launch a High Court petition challenging the result, citing the random draw, as well as allegations of irregularities at polling stations.

But her case was dismissed last week because it had been filed too late, with a senior judge also noting that it had been backed by legal authority none of the lawyers had ever heard of.

Mr Justice Martin Spencer said no record could be found of the authorities cited by Mrs Williams, with one of them supposedly dating back to before the First World War.

'It appears it may have been an invention, indeed a hallucination, of AI,' he said.

He also ordered her to pay £19,000 towards the costs of the case, a ruling which Ms Williams said left her feeling 'oppressed and silenced' and which would 'destroy my life.'

Reform UK candidate Liz Williams (pictured), who used fake AI legal cases to support her claim when she sued over her election defeat, has been handed a £19,000 court bill

She cited two cases - titled 'R v Hackney ex parte Sidebotham 1912' and 'The Mayor of Tower Hamlets v Electoral Commission 2015' - which were said to provide vital legal precedents in election disputes.

However barrister for the returning officers, Timothy Straker KC, said he had done an extensive search for the cases, and found nothing online or on paper.

The judge said the issue had been raised before the hearing with Ms Williams, who acknowledged there were 'errors' in the documents she originally filed.

He said the previous court decisions appeared to be AI-generated.

According to Ms Williams' petition, the tie breaker could have been carried out unlawfully.

'The petitioner believes this process was not carried out in accordance with due process of law, open to fraud and corruption and did not allow time for independent legal advice to be obtained when being pressured into accepting the process in principle,' the petition said.

Ms Williams added: 'I did not feel able to witness the entire process without obstruction, nor my concerns to be heard at the time.

'I could not see the box for all of the preparation and was not included in that.

She lost to Green candidate Hannah Robson (pictured) in an election for the Littletons ward in Worcestershire after recounts left them tied on 889 votes in May

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'I did not agree to a third person shuffling the papers. Once in the ballot box, only the returning officer should have had their hand in the box.'

Ms Williams also complained of 'fraud,' citing irregularities on voting day, with campaigning allegedly occurring on the grounds of polling stations.

But throwing out her petition, Justice Spencer said the law provides for a 21-day limit for challenges to be filed after elections - and that she had missed that deadline.

'The primary legislation doesn't provide any power to the court to extend time for the presenting of a petition.

'In my judgment, the respondents' application succeeds. The petition wasn't presented in time and I consider that it should be dismissed.'

Having found against her, he also ordered Mrs Williams to pay £19,000 towards the returning officers' lawyers' bills.

Electoral Commission guidance to returning officers states: 'When two or more candidates have the same number of votes, and the addition of a vote would entitle any of those candidates to be declared elected, you must decide between the candidates by lot.

'Whichever candidate wins the lot is treated as though they had received an additional vote that enables them to be declared elected.'

Reform candidate gets £19k bill after AI cases used to overturn result