Allerdale councillor Peter Little disqualified over jail sentence

Peter Little had already received a suspended sentence after separate threatening behaviour

A councillor who was jailed for sending a "grossly offensive" and threatening email has been disqualified.

Peter Little, 37, from Maryport, Cumbria sent the message to Allerdale Council's chief executive in which he threatened him and the local MP.

He was told his six-week sentence was shorter than the three months required to bar him as a councillor.

However, a previous 12-week suspended sentence for public order offences will run consecutively, making it 18 weeks.

"Under S80 of the Local Government Act 1972, Peter is automatically disqualified as a councillor with immediate effect," a spokesperson said.

On Monday, Little, of Grasmere Terrace, pleaded guilty at Workington Magistrates' Court to sending the offensive message to Allerdale Council's chief executive, Andrew Seekings.

In the message, sent in September, he used a sexual swear word to suggest the chief executive and the Conservative MP for Workington, Mark Jenkinson, would come to harm.

'Extremely drunk'

Little had previously been given a suspended sentence for a number of public order offences.

While "extremely drunk" he had verbally abused and threatened his neighbours in an argument about parking after "taking a dislike to the position they had parked their vehicle", Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

During the dispute, which occurred in May, the neighbours flagged down a passing police car for help.

After his arrest Little verbally abused police staff and officers, threatened to spit at them and homophobically abused female officers, the CPS added.

The council said it would start the process to run a by-election to fill the now vacant seat.