Council to keep photo of disgraced former mayor

Shaun Wright resigned in 2014 following the Jay Report

A council has said there is no precedent or legal reason to remove a photo portrait of a controversial former mayor from the borough's town hall.

Shaun Wright resigned as South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner in 2014 after a report laid bare the scale of the town's child grooming scandal.

Conservatives on Rotherham Council, where Mr Wright had previously been mayor, submitted a petition calling for the photo's removal.

Jo Brown, assistant chief executive at the council, said pictures of former mayors dating back more than 100 years were displayed "as a matter of historical record".

"There is no precedent to call upon or legal reason to remove the picture," she added.

Mr Wright served as Rotherham Council's children's service boss for five years from 2005 and was also mayor in 2010. He went on to become police and crime commissioner in 2012.

The Labour politician stepped down following the publication of the Jay Report, which found that at least 1,400 young people had been victims of child sexual exploitation in the town between 1997 and 2013.

The petition, which attracted 27 signatures, was presented to a council meeting on Wednesday.

Exploitation survivor Sammy Woodhouse was among those who backed the motion.

Ms Woodhouse backed the petition

Ms Woodhouse was groomed and raped when she was a child in the town and later went on to waive her anonymity.

Conservative councillor Simon Ball tabled the motion, which called for Mr Wright's photo to be replaced with a QR code.

When scanned, the code would inform visitors of Mr Wright’s “failure to do his job”, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Mr Ball criticised the decision to reject his proposal.

He told the LDRS: “Could you imagine being one of the people affected by CSE and passing his smiling picture that’s ensconced on the wall, and thinking that is a good thing to display in the town hall?

“The picture should be removed and not celebrated.”

The BBC has been unable to contact Mr Wright.

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