Police probe pizza boss’ ‘dress as Ku Klux Klan’ call ahead of this demo
Gwynedd facing £3.4m service overspend
A PIZZA company boss apologised after posting calls on social media for people to dress up as the Ku Klux Klan ahead of a North Wales Black Lives Matter protest.
Wendy Rowland, who runs the Amore Pizza mobile pizza van, sparked an outcry when she posted on Facebook: “Come on. Let’s do it. Let’s dress as Ku Klux Klan. Who’s joining us. Let’s stand our ground!”
She made the comments while arguing the name of the Caernarfon pub The Black Boy should remain. And she urged people to come over from her native Cheshire to help defend the town’s ‘history.’
After initially claiming her account had been hacked, Mrs Rowland admitted she posted the remarks – which have led to calls for a boycott of her business.
Police are also investigating the comments.
Mrs Rowland said: “What I said has been completely blown out of proportion.
“I didn’t realise social media was such a dangerous thing. People are out of order. It was just a bit of banter. It was nothing serious – I was just joking.
Mrs Rowland said she “wanted to protect Caernarfon because it seemed like it was going to get destroyed,” adding, “I’d heard about what was going on in London and I didn’t want that here.”
She has since deleted the posts and her business page, and is planning to go on a Black Lives Matter protest in future to learn more about the cause.
She added: “I’m sorry about the hurt I’ve caused and I want to learn.
“I’m going to go on a BLM protest, I’ll understand then what I’ve done. I had no idea of the damage I was doing.
“I don’t know anything about the KKK. I just thought they were people who dressed up.”
The posts were quickly slammed by horrified readers. One said: “If she can make a strong clear statement stating how wrong she was, apologising, showing true remorse, calling on racists to change, that could be a good thing in influencing vile racist KKK promoting morons to amend their ways.”
Another posted: “No excuse in my opinion. She’s made her bed, let her sleep in it.”
Hywel Williams MP said: “I am aware that some unpleasant and illjudged comments appeared on social media in relation to recent Black Lives
Matter protests held in Caernarfon.
“These comments in no way reflect the overwhelming tolerance and diversity which enriches our communities here in Arfon.”
North Wales Police Inspector Jon Aspinall said: ‘We were made aware of the comments made, and are investigating the matter. We always take reports of comments like these seriously, especially at a time of national attention around this issue.’
AN overspend on children’s social services has seen Gwynedd Council finish the financial year in the red, as it faces further rough seas due to Covid-19.
The Children and Families department finished 2019/20 having overspent its budget by £3.4m, described in a report presented to councillors as “worrying.”
Despite this, with other departments underspending their budgets, number crunchers have managed to avoid dipping into the authority’s reserves, which the finance portfolio holder warned may be needed in future due to the coronavirus pandemic’s long term effects on public finances.
The £3.4m overspend is double the £1.64m that the children’s department spent above its 2018/19 budget, mirroring a national trend over recent years.
In January, anticipating such problems, the authority authorised a task force to look at Gwynedd’s crippling social services overspend.
With most of the £3.4m blamed on increasing demands for out-ofcounty placements, this mirrors an issue faced by several authorities across Wales and beyond.
Gwynedd’s head of Children and Supporting Families said last year that it was “a market for the providers” and that councils were left with “little choice” but paying the often high fees demanded by providers fully aware of the scarcity of such specialist facilities closer to home.
Meanwhile, other services also finished the financial year having overspent, but to a lesser degree.
Among these were Highways and Municipal ( £547,000), Housing and Property ( £83,000) and Economy and Community ( £67,000).
However, other services finished the year in the black including Education ( £96,000), Environment ( £170,000), Gwynedd Consultancy ( £11,000), Corporate Management Team and Legal ( £50,000), Finance (and Information Technology) ( £70,000) and Corporate Support ( £100,000).
This, members were told, was partly down to unexpected Welsh Government grant funding.