Councillor fights six-month ban (From Free Press Series)

Councillor fights six-month ban

THE six-month suspension of a top Monmouthshire councillor who allegedly threatened to throw a social worker out of a window, was upheld on Monday by a council committee.

And Graham Powell, councillor for the Severn ward in Caldicot, once again stormed out of a meeting before the verdict was announced.

A furious Councillor Powell, 78, blasted the meeting of Monmouthshire council's standards committee as a 'kangaroo court', and vowed to fight on to clear his name.

The committee met to decide whether to suspend Councillor Powell for one month or six months over allegations that he threatened to throw a social worker out of a window and have her fired in November, 2002.

The complaint by Colin Berg, corporate director of social and housing services, led to a report by the local government Ombudsman.

The standards committee originally suspended Councillor Powell for one month. His attempt to overturn the ban through the adjudication panel for Wales failed, and it recommended a six-month ban, which was upheld this week.

Councillor Powell's ban was due to start today, but the former leader of Monmouthshire council intends to step down at the June elections after 55 years in local government.

In the meeting, Councillor Powell argued that the adjudication panel failed to give adequate reasons for extending the ban, and said the committee would not listen to his representations about the matter.

Chairman Glyn Maddocks said: "What happened in those committees is closed. The power we have today is merely to impose the sanction or not."

Mr Powell challenged the legality of the meeting before angrily storming out, as he did at the adjudication panel in February.

Speaking after the meeting Councillor Powell said: "I am not surprised at all by this decision.

"It was nothing but a kangaroo court. It has no validation. The chairman knows that I am going to take action against his decision."

Councillor Powell said he would now seek a judicial review of the entire case in order to clear his name.