Panel finds Hindley Green councillor guilty of intimidating staff member

Clr Robert Brierley was found to have breached Wigan Council’s code of conduct at the first two of six standards hearings due to be held in the next few weeks.

The independent ward member for Hindley Green was excluded from the meeting on October 1 after refusing to comply with the panel’s request to switch off his recording device and failed to turn up to the second meeting on Tuesday.

The meetings were held in front of a panel made up of the chair of the Standards Committee Clr Charles Rigby, Clr Lynne Holland and Clr Stuart Dewhurst but were otherwise held in private to protect the identity of the individuals, including the volunteer.

At the first meeting, the complainant, Trevor Barton, who manages the centre, submitted the complaint claiming that Clr Brierley had acted aggressively and intimidated a 17-year-old female member of staff and was both rude and aggressive towards the deputy business manager of the centre.

The second meeting heard how Alison McKenzie-Folan, director for customer transformation at Wigan Council, submitted the complaint against Clr Brierley on behalf of a member of staff who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The complainant said: “I was walking the dog with my daughter when Clr Brierley pulled up in his car. He saw me enter the field and he was still there waiting for me when I returned.

“He pulled up alongside my car and started shouting abuse at me. I remember him saying that as soon as Labour was out he’d be my boss and I’d have to work for him.

“In my role I work quite closely with councillors, the majority of whom are a pleasure to work with. Unfortunately this incident has made it very difficult for me to work with Clr Brierley, he’s never apologised for the incident and ignores me.”

In both cases the panel found Clr Brierley guilty of breaching paragraph three (1) (b) and paragraph five. The decision on sanctions has been deferred until the final hearing next month.