Councillor Mack has his ban reinstated having breached Code of Conduct
A controversial Paisley councillor who labelled a fellow elected member a “white supremacist” has been disqualified – again.
Paul Mack was originally banned for 17 months by the Standards Commission for Scotland over a year- long bullying campaign.
That punishment was quashed and a fresh hearing ordered when Mack successfully challenged the decision in court.
However, after the latest hearing the independent councillor for the Paisley Southeast ward at Renfrewshire Council has found himself out in the cold again. He has once again been disqualified, this time for 14 months.
The Standards Commission for Scotland delivered a damning verdict on his behaviour, which included sending a series of alarming emails to or about councillors Eddie Devine, Karen Kennedy and Alistair Mackay.
Mr Devine previously described how he and his daughter Ms Kennedy were offered panic alarms by the police at the height of the campaign.
Mack claimed a housing application for Ms Kennedy was given a favourable look by council officials, a claim he provided no evidence for and which was found to be completely unfounded.
He had denied any wrongdoing but was again found to have breached the Councillors’ Code of Conduct by a Standards Commission for Scotland disciplinary panel.
On delivering the outcome, panel chair Paul walker said Mack had failed to engage with the hearing process and that the harassment was so serious that a disqualification was the only appropriate outcome.
He said: “The panel was concerned that he had made extremely serious, wholly unfounded allegations against Councillor Devine and had subjected both complainers to offensive and demeaning personal attacks which went well beyond what might be considered normal or even acceptable in a party political context and here instead amounted to harassment.”
He described Mack’s behaviour as being of a “repeated nature over a long period of time” and “completely unacceptable”.
His original 17-month ban was overturned in February when he successfully appealed to Paisley Sheriff Court.
A sheriff ordered a fresh hearing on the grounds that the first should not have taken place without Mr Mack, who claimed to be self- isolating, being present. Mack served similar bans over his conduct in 2016 and 2017.