Complaints dismissed against Christian ex-mayor accused of ‘homophobia’ and ‘dishonesty’

Aug 4, 2018 by Jill

from Christian Concern:

The local councillor who was forced to resign as Mayor of Ferryhill over social media posts has had formal complaints about his conduct dismissed.

Mr Richard Smith’s story was featured extensively in the news when he stepped down from his position after a number of activists, led by local drag queen ‘Tess Tickle’, campaigned for his removal over posts on his personal Facebook account.

A number of these activists made formal complaints to Durham County Council, alleging that Mr Smith’s posts were “homophobic, transphobic, extremist, stir up hatred against persons on the basis of protected characteristics”. A further complaint accused Mr Smith of dishonesty relating to the distribution of food to the needy by Immanuel Christian Fellowship, of which he is a trustee.

Having received support from the Christian Legal Centre, Mr Smith has had all of these complaints dismissed by Durham County Council.

Regarding the complaints about his social media posts, the decision points out that:

Mr Smith has the right to freedom of expression, as expressed in articles 9 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights
Many of the posts were made prior to his election as a town councillor
None of his posts were made in his official capacity as a councillor or as mayor

The complaint alleging dishonesty provided no supporting evidence of its claims and no official complaints have been made to Greggs or Immanuel Christian Fellowship about the distribution of food.

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