Black Lives Matter: Ex-Pembroke councillor censured over Facebook posts

A former councillor has been censured for publishing a Facebook posts that were "likely to be considered racist".

Pembrokeshire council found Paul Dowson breached the authority's code of conduct by putting comments about Black Lives Matter online.

He deleted his account shortly after the comments were published on 8 June 2020 and denied being racist or sharing the post.

A council committee found he knew it was "likely to be considered racist".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, committee chairwoman Corinna Kershaw said it was likely it would have considered suspending Mr Dowson had he still been a councillor.

She said censuring Mr Dowson, who represented Pembroke Dock, was the maximum sanction available under the circumstances.

The hearing was held behind closed doors despite an initial plan to hold it in public.

The committee said it decided to meet in private as it was likely exempt information would be disclosed.

Ms Kershaw said the committee was of the view Mr Dowson was acting, or appeared to be acting, in his capacity of councillor and was aware some or all of the Facebook post was likely to be considered racist.

It also said parts of the code relating to showing respect and consideration for others were also breached.