Ex-councillor harassed former colleague with cards

Gerard Woodhouse served on Liverpool City Council

An ex-Liverpool councillor has admitted to a harassment campaign against a former Labour colleague.

Gerard Woodhouse, aged 62, of Mayfair Close in Anfield, sent cards in the post containing offensive terms, posted using counterfeit stamps, to Liverpool City Council licensing chair Christine Banks.

Liverpool Magistrates' Court heard he had sent up to five cards a day between 2023 and 2025 and that they had fallen out during their time on the licensing committee.

Woodhouse, who pleaded guilty to harassment without violence, was bailed for sentencing on 9 December, on the condition that he did not approach Banks, go near where she lived, or to the council headquarters at the Cunard Building.

The court heard from prosecutor Heather Bell that the maximum sentence he could receive was 16 weeks in prison, and that the offence was aggravated by the fact that his victim was a public servant.

She told the court Woodhouse had four previous convictions for 15 offences between 1995 and 2006 that were unrelated to the current charge.

His defence solicitor Kevin Kelly said Woodhouse had been suffering from a "long-term mental health condition that may have impacted his decisions at the time these offences occurred.".