Advice sought on ousting foodbank fraud councillor
A TOWN council is seeking legal advice on whether it can oust a disgraced member who admitted defrauding the local foodbank.
Daniel Meredith ap Eifion Jones, 39, earlier this month pleaded guilty at Caernarfon Crown Court to fraud and theft relating to the Amlwch’s foodbank, receiving a fine, a 13 week sentence suspended for 12 months, and 150 hours of unpaid work.
During a meeting of Amlwch Town Council last week, members confirmed they had sought legal advice to establish if Cllr Jones still remained a member of the body he was co-opted onto earlier this year, representing the Amlwch Port ward.
Cllr Gordon Warren, also a volunteer with the foodbank, said during last Tuesday’s monthly session, “I was talking to a local shopkeeper recently who said how angry and disappointed he was to hear of his actions, as being a councillor, that he trusted him.
“But its now been proven that he cannot be trusted. The town council’s good name is being damaged, and I believe he should resign.”
Cllr Warren’s comments, which most members nodded in agreement with, prompted confirmation from council chairman Gareth Winston Roberts, that legal advice was currently being sought.
Cllr Myrddin Owens, a solicitor by trade, referred to section 80 of the Local Governmenr Act which notes that any councillor given a sentence of imprisonment (whether suspended or not) for a period of three months or more, without the option of a fine, is disqualified from holding office.
He added, “I have contacted the court for the official report, but on the surface, the 13 week suspended sentence seems to meet the threshold. All we can do for now is wait for the report, and refer the evidence to Anglesey Council’s Standards Committee.
“From my point of view, as things stand, he cannot resign from the town council as you can’t resign from a body you’ve been disqualified from.”
Jones, who was present at the meeting, made no comment and did not wish to respond when approached by the Mail’s sister paper the Daily Post.
Jones was among a group of people who set up the Anglesey Food Bank in his home town of Amlwch in 2013, becoming the manager.
In early 2015, Jones announced a £300,000 grant had been secured from the Big Lottery Fund, which would allow the organisation to secure permanent premises, with two officials, Roy Jones and Bronwen Westlake, making advance payments on the proviso they would be paid back when the grant was paid.
A bank statement showed a substantial amount had been paid into the group’s bank account. But enquiries by Ms Westlake found the Big Lottery Fund had never received an application for funding and no deposit had been made at the bank.
Jones had received £335 from the officials to buy a carpet, but enquiries revealed the cost was some £175 less. Cash given by the officials to pay for a meter and for insurance had also not been used for those purposes.
Arrested and interviewed by officers in February last year, Jones denied the offences and claimed he himself had been the victim of a scam, before changing his plea before a scheduled hearing earlier this month.
Upon his sentencing, Judge Huw Rees said that the former Welsh Assembly candidate had lost his good name.