Authors Dermot Feenan
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Durham County Council has upheld my complaint that Councillor David Boyes breached its Code of Conduct for communications in respect of Travellers. This would appear to be the first time in England that a councillor has been so held to account for such communications. [1/16]
The grounds for the complaint are already set out by me: https://t.co/0MDqO6dyja. In summary: on 7 May 2020, Cllr Boyes posted on a Facebook site he shared with another councillor a video of scorch damage from barbeque trays and littering on and around a picnic table.
[2/16]
The table was in a picnic area in a nature reserve in the Easington constituency which Cllr Boyes represents. The video was accompanied by a comment from Cllr Boyes linking the ‘state’ of the tables with Travellers. That post attracted a number of comments which he liked.
[3/16]
Those liked comments included:
▪️ ‘scum should be f**k*ng shot oxygen thieves’ [edited]
▪️ ‘And they wonder why many people do not welcome them’.
[4/16]
Cllr Boyes accepted at the hearing that he did not have proof that Travellers caused the damage and that it was wrong for him to so implicate Travellers.
[5/16]
The press are now also covering Durham's decision to hold the hearing into the complaint against Cllr Boyes behind closed doors. See this item by @JHarrisonLDR, which includes reference to representations by @GypsyTravellers for a public hearing.https://t.co/C6M4KR65cW https://t.co/LuS8jQ2moi
— Dermot Feenan (@dermotfeenan) December 15, 2020
The grounds for the complaint are already set out by me: https://t.co/0MDqO6dyja. In summary: on 7 May 2020, Cllr Boyes posted on a Facebook site he shared with another councillor a video of scorch damage from barbeque trays and littering on and around a picnic table.
[2/16]
For those unfamiliar with the details of this complaint, I set out the basis of the complaint in the following 7 images:
— Dermot Feenan (@dermotfeenan) November 11, 2020
[8/14] pic.twitter.com/wrU18mBlMa
The table was in a picnic area in a nature reserve in the Easington constituency which Cllr Boyes represents. The video was accompanied by a comment from Cllr Boyes linking the ‘state’ of the tables with Travellers. That post attracted a number of comments which he liked.
[3/16]
Those liked comments included:
▪️ ‘scum should be f**k*ng shot oxygen thieves’ [edited]
▪️ ‘And they wonder why many people do not welcome them’.
[4/16]
Cllr Boyes accepted at the hearing that he did not have proof that Travellers caused the damage and that it was wrong for him to so implicate Travellers.
[5/16]