A SCOTTISH councillor has been suspended after he made " disrespectful and discriminatory comments about a child" on the phone to a council official.
Argyll and Bute Councillor Alastair Redman, a former Tory who represents Kintyre and the Islands as an independent, was subject of a hearing on Wednesday.
The Standards Commission decided to suspend Redman for two months over his comments made to the council’s education department in January 2023.
Evidence from the council officer, which was supported by file notes, stated Redman had accused a child of put video recording equipment in a girls’ changing room in a local school because he "cross-dressed". He also said people who "cross-dressed were more likely to be sexually deviant".
It was also concluded that Redman’s accusation were based on an understanding that the child was transgender, or because he was under the misapprehension that anyone who cross-dressed must be transgender.
Redman is a former Conservative representative who was previously suspended for Islamophobia allegations in 2019. He was eventually kicked out of the party in 2021 amid claims he used different aliases to respond to a public consultation. He denied the allegations.
Ashleigh Dunn, Standards Commission member and chair of the Hearing Panel, said: “The panel found that, during the telephone calls, councillor Redman effectively made a serious accusation on his own behalf (as opposed to just passing on what his constituents had allegedly told him), being both that the child had undertaken a potentially criminal act and was likely also ‘sexually deviant’.
"The panel was not provided with any evidence to show this accusation was based on anything other than how Cllr Redman understood the child occasionally dressed. The Panel considered that making such an accusation in the circumstances was disrespectful towards the child.”
It was concluded that based on the timing of the second remark (people who cross-dressed were more likely to be sexually deviant) made by Redman, he was doing so in the context of the discussion about the child.
The panel was also not provided with any evidence to show this accusation was based on anything other than how Redman understood the child occasionally dressed.
It was agreed Redman would, or reasonably should have, been aware that as the person responsible for investigating the matter, the officer would be obliged to share this with the child’s parents given it concerned their then 15-year-old child.
Making an unsubstantiated accusation on the basis of a protected characteristic, perceived or otherwise, Redman was found to have "failed to foster good relations between different people". The panel concluded, therefore, that there was also a breach of paragraph 3.2 of the Code.
The watchdog said: "The panel acknowledged that the Respondent was entitled to his political views but were concerned, however, that he had gone beyond this by making a serious, unfounded and gratuitous accusation of potential criminality against a then 15-year-old child, simply because of how he allegedly and occasionally dressed.
It was further noted that Redman had not offered any apology to the child or the family.
Dunn stated: “The Code of Conduct does not prevent councillors from passing on concerns constituents raise with them to council officers. The panel considered, however, that Redman could have done so without engaging in disrespectful and discriminatory behaviour. It therefore did not consider that a restriction on his right to freedom of expression would, in any way, restrict his ability to undertake his role in assisting his constituents in making their concerns known to council officers.”
A full written decision of the hearing will be issued and published on the Standards Commission’s website within seven days.
