A Welsh councillor who posted a photo of himself with a gun alongside a comment that he was making sure “there weren’t any English people trying to cross the channel” has avoided suspension.
Plaid Cymru councilor Jon Scriven uploaded the picture on Facebook in August 2022, showing him on a beach, apparently by the Bristol Channel, with a rifle.
In an accompanying caption, he wrote: “Ogmore-by-Sea tonight for a quick swim and make sure there aren’t any English people trying to cross the channel.”
The post was deleted 15 days later and he apologized for any offense caused.
Critics included Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies, who said he was “speechless” and added: “This kind of xenophobic attitude is beneath us.”
Cllr Scriven, who represents Penyrheol ward in Caerphilly, accepted later that month that he had committed a racially aggravated section five public order offence.
The Public Services Ombudsman launched an investigation and concluded the post was “not appropriate”.
It found Cllr Scriven had been “reckless and/or naïve” and noted that the post had generated “significant negative media attention”.
Cllr Scriven told Caerphilly Council’s scrutiny committee on Friday that he had meant the post as a “joke”.
“I didn’t realize at the time that this would be breaking the code of conduct,” he told the committee.
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He said the post was published on his “personal Facebook page” and he’d had “no complaints at all” for two weeks until it was screenshotted and posted on Twitter.
Cllr Scriven told the committee that accepting the racially aggravated public order offense had been “against [his] will” as he was “not a racist”.
“My three best friends, who I class as my best friends, are Italian, Indian and English,” he added.
The committee concluded that Cllr Scriven had breached the code of conduct for members and decided the appropriate sanction would be a censure, rather than a suspension.
It also recommended further training for the councilor on its code of conduct and the use of social media.