The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Councillor guilty of ethics breach will not resign
Four women at event received ‘unwanted’ attention
An Angus councillor has been banned from all council meetings for three months after a complaint hearing found him guilty of inappropriate behaviour towards four women.
Arbroath West and Letham Liberal Democrat Richard Moore admitted he had called the women “lovely ladies” and flicked one victim’s top like a “Subbuteo player”.
The offences involved fellow Angus councillors Julie Bell and Lois Speed, along with two female council officers, and happened at an event to which Scottish and UK parliament members had been invited.
Church elder Mr Moore denied acting in a derogatory manner, but following a daylong hearing in Forfar he was heavily criticised by Scotland’s ethical standards commissioner for failing to recognise the extent of his “unwanted and unexpected” behaviour.
His conduct against one of the women was branded “persistent and certainly deliberate”.
Mr Moore said he would serve the suspension but would not be standing down as a councillor.
An Angus councillor has been suspended from attending any council meetings for three months after a complaint about his conduct towards four women on the same evening was upheld.
Arbroath West and Letham Liberal Democrat Richard Moore was sanctioned following an all-day hearing at the local authority’s Forfar HQ.
He admitted he had flicked one woman’s top, as he would “a Subbuteo player” and referred to them as “lovely ladies”, but insisted he had not acted in a derogatory manner.
A specially convened panel heard evidence under oath from Kirriemuir and Dean SNP councillor Julie Bell, Arbroath East and Lunan Independent councillor Lois Speed, and two female council officers named only as witness D and witness G.
The witnesses said they had been touched by Mr Moore at a formal exhibition attended by councillors and to which members of the Scottish and UK parliaments had been invited.
Bill Thomson, Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life, told the hearing: “You have heard evidence from
In all four cases you have very clear evidence that the physical contact made by Councillor Moore was unwanted and unexpected. BILL THOMSON, COMMISSIONER FOR ETHICAL STANDARDS IN PUBLIC LIFE
four females, two councillors and two officials, and my submission is that they are all credible.
“In all four cases you have very clear evidence that the physical contact made by Councillor Moore was unwanted and unexpected.
“And in the case of witness D, it wasn’t just one occasion, it was three, despite her taking half a step back after the first and after the second. That strikes me as persistent and certainly deliberate.”
Mr Thomson also quoted from a confidential investigation report by a senior officer from the local authority, which said: “The report concluded that Councillor Moore’s behaviour and language was inappropriate and below the standard expected of a councillor.
“His physical contact with women was totally inappropriate in a work context, over-familiar and sexist and that this had made the women concerned feel awkward, uncomfortable and patronised.”
In his defence, Mr Moore, who is an elder of Letham Church and a former councillor in York, said: “I attended the exhibition and lightly flipped the hood of Councillor Bell’s top to get her attention.
“At the time, I was very much a friendly, tactile councillor.
“Yes, I probably did touch the councillors, and did refer to them as ‘lovely ladies’ and ‘dear’.
“In Yorkshire, these are not derogatory terms, but it was drawn to my attention that these terms are wrong.”
Having found a breach of standards had taken place, the panel suspended his entitlement to attend all meetings of Angus Council and any committee or sub-committee for three months.