Conservative Barnet Councillor Brian Coleman billed for legal fees over rude emails tribunal

4:08pm Wednesday 3rd October 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Chris Hewett

Tory Councillor Brian Coleman will foot the bill for his legal defence at a standards tribunal earlier this year.

Former Barnet Mayor Cllr Coleman was ordered to apologise to two members of the public after he accused one of being a “disloyal Israeli” and told another she “would have been in the (Nazi) blackshirts 70 years ago”.

An independent panel found in March that Totteridge representative Councillor Coleman broken the members' code of conduct by sending the abusive emails.

The former GLA member appealed the decision but it was upheld at a first-tier tribunal in August.

Cllr Coleman has refused to abide by the August tribunal's orders, claiming he is “under no obligation” to apologise.

Barnet Council confirmed it would only cover the legal costs of a members' appeal hearing if they were successful.

Comments(4)

Dr Julia Hines says...
4:35pm Wed 3 Oct 12

It is not entirely clear to me why he has not already paid for this. His standards hearing was months ago, and the appeal decision was made on 8 August.

I trust he will also be paying Barnet Council's legal costs for the appeal.

Report this post »

torankrai says...
11:54am Thu 4 Oct 12

disloyal Israeli” and told another she “would have been in the (Nazi) blackshirts 70 years ago”. sending the abusive emails? looks like the members' code of conduct is broken.

Report this post »

gingis says...
8:54pm Thu 4 Oct 12

Coleman won't pay and Barnet won't push him. Beleve me!!

Report this post »

Mr_Growser says...
11:07am Sat 6 Oct 12

These hearings are a farce. So Councillor C was rude to someone! If what he wrote was defamatory, he could be sued in the Courts.In the case of the two complaining numpties, let's be clear - they were taking up Coleman's time and our money writing about something he can have no influence on, and, as a Councillor, should not be wasting his time considering. It might have been simpler, though, if he had just replied "Not for me - try Foreign Office" and left it at that.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree