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Censure over Beechwood cllr internet video
MIDDLESBROUGH councillor Joan McTigue has been censured over her role in a YouTube video showing how a Labour poster was stuck to the window of her home.
The independent Beechwood councillor was found to have breached Middlesbrough Council’s Code of Practice on two occasions.
But three other complaints of code breaches were dismissed by a council standards hearings sub-committee.
The complaints were made by magistrates Teresa Higgins and Oliver Johnson, who were among a group of Labour Party activists near Cllr McTigue’s home when another person stuck the poster on her window.
They made the complaints after Cllr McTigue complained to Teesside Magistrates’ Court about their behaviour. She included CCTV footage taken by council-installed equipment.
Cllr McTigue also showed the images to film-maker John Walsh. He made copies for her and uploaded the images on to YouTube, along with comments from Cllr McTigue. The incident happened just before last year’s General Election. Cllr McTigue was standing as an independent, while Mr Walsh was the Conservative candidate.
The standards hearing sub-committee found Cllr McTigue, inset, had breached the code by not acting in accordance with the council’s “reasonable requirements when using its resources”, and using council resources improperly for political purposes.
It rejected that she had brought the council into disrepute, not treated others with respect, and attempted to use her position to confer an advantage or disadvantage.
Cllr McTigue was censured, with the sub-committee also ordering the CCTV equipment should be removed from her home for six months.
Cllr McTigue, who was provided by the council with the CCTV equipment following fears about her security, said later she would now have her own back-up CCTV system operating.
In his complaint, Mr Johnson said Cllr McTigue’s computer was provided for council business - and not to put CCTV footage on the internet - and that the footage had been placed online to ridicule him and destroy his good standing.
Mrs Higgins said the video and the accompanying commentary insinuated she had invaded Cllr McTigue’s property and that she felt humiliated.
She added that Cllr McTigue had used council equipment and her position to try to damage Mrs Higgins’ standing in the community.
Cllr McTigue said: “I thought it was inappropriate behaviour. It was juvenile,” she added.
She said she had sent the CCTV footage to the magistrates’ court because it was the evidence she had.
She said Mr Walsh had told her she had “authorial rights” over the images. She did not realise the footage was going to be uploaded on to YouTube.
Cllr McTigue’s complaints to the magistrates’ court were not upheld.
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