Lady Whistledown councillor Derek Wann says “justice has been served” after being cleared of breaching the councillors’ Code of Conduct over his anonymous Twitter account.
A Standards Commission panel at a Forfar hearing said it was taking no action against the Scottish Conservative over his conduct around the anti-SNP social media profile.
Last year, Mr Wann was unmasked as the figure behind the Bridgerton-inspired account which targeted local and national politicians.
The hearing said that “on the face of it” the councillors’ code had been broken.
But it ruled Mr Wann was entitled to the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
It said the posts and comments were not “sufficiently offensive, abusive or gratuitous” to warrant sanction when set against the enhanced protection of Article 10.
But Standards Commission convener Paul Walker said the anonymous account had only served to contribute to poor standards of public debate.
Mr Wann admitted he set up the account at a “low moment” to get back at critics.
One victim of Mr Wann’s trolling said the former administration figure had “got off on a technicality”.
The hearing
The panel heard eight separate complaints were lodged with Scotland’s Ethical Standards Commissioner between June and July last year.
It came after The Courier’s political editor Derek Healey unmasked the Angus Tory as the man behind the profile.
The account was deleted after Mr Wann admitted being behind it.
And that had made it difficult to recover Lady Whistledown’s Twitter activity.
But the investigation uncovered more than 2,500 different URLs showing tweets, retweets or comments.
Complainers were asked to provide screenshot copies as corroboration, but almost all did not.
The investigation considered many of the comments to be the “normal cut and thrust” of politics.
Mr Wann’s position
Cllr Wann was accompanied at the hearing by former Angus administration leader, Arbroath Independent David Fairweather.
They were close allies in the previous coalition administration.
Mr Wann stepped down from his role as education convener in the wake of the Whistledown scandal.
But he kept his place in the ruling group.
And he is now the leader of the main opposition group on the SNP-run council.
Mr Wann told the hearing he had apologised publicly and sincerely for his conduct.
And he acknowledged the account could have caused “mild offence”.
In response to being asked why he set up the anonymous profile, he said: “As a councillor you will face a barrage of abuse and this was a low moment and a chance to put my point across without being criticised as a councillor.
He was asked if he deleted the account because the value of it being anonymous had gone.
“Yes”, replied Mr Wann. “I had no further use for it.”
The ruling
Panel chair Mr Walker said the only reasonable conclusion around why Mr Wann set up the anonymous account was to indulge in conduct he would have been prevented from as an elected politician subject to a Code of Conduct.
But the panel nevertheless accepted Councillor Wann was entitled to the enhanced right to freedom of expression afforded to politicians on matters of public interest under Article 10 of the EHCR.
The Standards Commission ruling in full can be read here.
And Mr Walker put a marker down over how elected members should behave.
“Councillors should not make comments online that they would not otherwise make in person, face to face,” he said.
“The Panel noted that using an anonymous account to be disrespectful and discourteous only served to contribute to poor standards of public debate.”
Reaction to the outcome
Mr Wann made only a brief comment following the hearing outcome.
“Justice has been served, write what you want,” he said.
But the new Provost of Angus said he believed Mr Wann had escaped sanction on a technicality.
Carnoustie Independent Brian Boyd attended the Forfar hearing as an observer.
He is understood to have been one of the eight complainers, but declined to confirm if that was the case.
“I am surprised, these were hurtful comments he posted online,” he said.
“It wasn’t banter as he suggested, it was bullying and people can judge that for themselves from the content of some of the posts.
“At the end of the day we’ve seen him get off on a technicality around freedom of expression.
“If political banter is going to be your defence then you shouldn’t be doing it behind the blanket of an anonymous account – have the courage of your convictions.
“As councillors we have been given social media training and we should all take on board the comments made by the Panel around courtesy and respect.
“But the ruling has been made so let’s close this chapter and move on in a positive way for the next five years of Angus Council.
“We have to draw a line under the last administration and the issues that cropped up within it.
“This was just one of those situations.
“We need to move forward and as the first Independent Provost of Angus I hope to do that with all 27 other councillors.”
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