News from around the county I am being blackmailed, claims snorting mayor
A mayor caught on camera snorting a substance in a toilet cubicle is facing investigation but says the substance “could have been sherbet.”
Neil Rix, who sits on Dover Town Council, has referred himself to the council’s monitoring officer as the fall-out from the scandal continues.
Dover Town Council initially said it would stand by its councillor but later said it was taking the matter seriously and was seeking advice.
In an exclusive interview with our website KentOnline, Cllr Rix said he was the victim of a blackmail plot and police were investigating.
“The video forms part of a police investigation into the fact I am being blackmailed,” he said. “It did not happen recently. I was set up, pushed into it and coerced.
“Someone had put drugs into my beer and I did not know I was being filmed.”
He told the Press Association he would not be resigning as “it could have been sherbet”.
The video was shot before Cllr Rix was appointed mayor.
It shows him urging another man in the toilet to close the cubicle door before removing a package from his pocket.
He then appears to lean over the cistern and snort a substance through a bank note.
Fellow town councillor Gordon Cowan said Cllr Rix should consider his position as mayor and town councillor.
Dover Town Council said in a statement: “We have asked the Kent Association of Local Councils for advice.
“The mayor has agreed to self-refer to the district council’s monitoring office for a possible breach of the Code of Conduct. There may be a criminal investigation, but that is a matter for the police.”
Cllr Rix, who runs a scaffolding firm, has been an elected member of the town council for nine years.
He was elected mayor in April this year by a casting vote, saying at the time: “I want to bring Dover on a bit and try and make everyone work together and make Dover a better place.”
A police spokesman said the force was aware of the video and enquiries would be made. The force was not able to confirm or deny Cllr Rix’s blackmail claims.