Inquiry into outburst that halted council meeting

Council has received complaints

An investigation is under way into how a key council meeting was halted after a four-letter outburst from a councillor.

July’s meeting of the full Teignbridge Council was suspended after the incident, which came during questions about leisure centre changing facilities.

Three members of the public asked about the way sports centres treated trans people, and council chair Cllr Rosie Dawson (Lib Dem, Dawlish NE) stepped in to stop the speakers from making statements in addition to their questions.

Cllr Liam Mullone (South Devon Alliance, College) accused her of behaving like ‘a teacher’ or like ‘the police’, using four-letter words as he did so. Cllr Mullone, who told the meeting he lived with Tourette’s Syndrome, then walked out of the chamber.

SD Alliance group leader Cllr Richard Daws (Ambrook) warned that cutting short public questions would be ‘censorship’ and a ‘breach of freedom of expression’.

“It’s very concerning,” he said. “I’d rather this meeting hadn’t spiralled, but people want to be heard.”

Writing on social media later, the SD Alliance said there had been ‘very worrying failings’ on the council’s part.

In a statement, a Teignbridge Council spokesperson said the authority had received a number of complaints, which it was investigating.

They added: “We have also arranged to meet group leaders to discuss behaviours in the chamber. We are working with the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny, and the Local Government Association, to strengthen the constitution, members’ conduct and the way meetings are run.

“Much has been done already to tackle some of the issues raised in the corporate peer review carried out at the end of last year, and this continues to be a priority for us.”