'Creepy' councillor banned for harassing women

A "creepy" former town mayor who wrote love letters and sent unwanted gifts to several women has been disqualified from local council for three years

Steve Davies, has served on Ceredigion council and Aberystwyth Town Council for the Penparcau ward since 2012, was found to have breached several parts of the authorities’ codes of conduct.

A tribunal panel considered nine incidents and its conclusions were reached in a closed meeting and later published in a report.

The allegations, many of which Mr Davies admitted in interview, included leaving love letters, sending gifts and showing up at the homes of women who had asked him not to, as well as making sexual comments.

As well as his council roles, Mr Davies was a school governor, mayor of Aberystwyth from 2017 to 2018 and had volunteered at a number of organisations and clubs.

The report said he was "clearly well known and had a high profile in the area".

Two women reported that Mr Davies paid them unwanted visits, sometimes at night, brought them flowers and tended to their gardens.

One of them said he talked to her about liking big breasts, while the other described him as "creepy".

The report said "there could have been no doubt that these events occurred as they were described".

Mr Davies refused to respond to the panel without being told the women’s names and addresses.

Another woman said he visited her at work and brought her Christmas presents and cards with messages including: "All I want for Christmas is you."

Mr Davies admitted to sending the gifts, saying the woman was "very pretty" and said "age was only a number" when asked about her young age.

In another incident, a woman complained to the council that she was being “harassed and stalked” by Mr Davies, who was leaving "love notes" on her bike, despite being asked to stop by her boyfriend.

The report said the incident was recorded by police as a stalking crime and, when spoken to by a safeguarding officer, Mr Davies said he would "look for a victim who was less likely to complain on the next occasion”.

In an interview, he admitted continuing to leave the notes in the hope of "attracting attention", adding it was a "boy-girl thing".

Other allegations included "repeated sexual remarks" to fellow community volunteers.

An Public Service Ombudsman for Wales report in March 2023 received no response from Mr Davies.

A tribunal was held that July 2023 and its report was published in August.

It found Mr Davies should be suspended for six months but he resigned from both council positions in October 2023 and considered the matter closed.

But a closed case tribunal meeting in August this year decided to issue a further disqualification of three years from "being or becoming a member of authority or of any other relevant authority".

The panel unanimously found Mr Davies had broken the councils’ codes of conduct in several areas.