Black Lives Matter: Bletchley councillor's protest tweets investigated

Thousands of protesters gathered in Parliament Square as part of the protests which followed the death of George Floyd in America

A town councillor who sent angry tweets about the Black Lives Matter protests has been referred for investigation.

William Hewitt, of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford Town Council, said he hoped protesters "suffered a painful death" from Covid-19.

A separate tweet about TV celebrity Amanda Holden will also be looked at.

Mr Hewitt said he was "incensed" when he sent the messages on Twitter as he had seen "members of my family suffer from the effects of Covid-19".

He criticised Black Lives Matters protesters for breaching social distancing guidelines, calling them "scum" and "mindless thugs" in one tweet.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said he then tweeted an offensive comment hoping they "suffered a painful death".

William Hewitt said members of his family had suffered due to the coronavirus

Another message had read: "I really hope that everyone of them gets riddled with Covid-19."

In a reply on the social media platform to Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden, he offered his assistance if she needed help looking for something in her cleavage.

A complaint was made about the tweets to Milton Keynes Council, which looks into alleged breaches of professional conduct by councillors throughout the town.

In his submission to the authority, reproduced in council papers, Labour town councillor Ed Hume said the messages were disrespectful.

In a written submission, Mr Hewitt said: "I personally had members of my family suffer from the effects of Covid-19.

Mr Hewitt said protesters angry at the death of George Floyd were risking spreading coronavirus

"Thankfully they didn't pay the ultimate price, but still suffered with the disease, to the extent that my uncle was admitted to Papworth Hospital due to Covid-19."

He added that after seeing the "amazing work" of the NHS and then seeing protests around the world "with people of all races ignoring social distancing, putting all the effort made by people furloughing, to waste, yes I was incensed".

The committee agreed to launch an investigation into whether he had breached the town council's code of conduct.

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