Brian Duffin: Complaint to standards watchdog about sex assault councillor

A complaint has been made to the local government standards watchdog about a former SDLP councillor who sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl.

Brian Duffin was sentenced to four months in jail earlier this month for sexually assaulting the girl at her home in June 2016.

Duffin currently sits as an independent councillor on Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.

He is on bail pending an application to appeal his conviction.

In a statement, the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards said the watchdog "received a complaint that a councillor from Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council has breached the Councillor's Code of Conduct".

It added that the complaint is now being assessed.

Duffin, who had denied the charge, resigned from the SDLP in February, pending the outcome of the case.

Following his sentencing, the 73-year-old told BBC News NI he would not be resigning from the council.

He attended August's full meeting of the council on Tuesday - his first in three months - but he did not speak and left the chamber after half an hour.

Outside the meeting, Sinn Féin councillor Michael Goodman called on Duffin to resign his seat.

"We think that Councillor Duffin needs to consider his position and that he should resign.

"I think the situation was clear from earlier this year when his own party at the time actually asked him to stand down and I don't think anything has changed that position," he said.

A spokesperson for Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council said: "Councillor Duffin is appealing his conviction and sentence. He is currently not disqualified from being a councillor.

"The council will review the matter again following the outcome of Councillor Duffin's appeal."