Facebook PM-threat councillor did not breach code

The councillor made the threats in a series of posts last year

A councillor who called for Theresa May to be hanged "for treason" in a Facebook post did not breach the authority's code of conduct, a report has found.

Richard Alderman was given a community order and curfew after admitting sending menacing or grossly offensive messages about the prime minister.

He resigned as a Rutland County Council representative last month.

A report by Wilkin Chapman LLP found he was not acting in an official capacity.

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Rutland County Council said the seat would be left vacant until elections in May

The report found Alderman was also not acting in his role as a councillor when defending his Facebook comments in an interview with the Rutland and Stamford Mercury, three days after making the posts. But it concluded a comment he made about Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott was racist.

The report read: "Had councillor Alderman been acting in an official capacity on 15 and 17 July 2018 when publishing the post about Theresa May and making the comment about Diane Abbott, such conduct would have been a serious breach of the code of conduct."

The report also found other posts made by Alderman prior to his election would have constituted a serious breach of the code of conduct.

His seat is set to be filled at next month's local elections.

When asked about the report, Alderman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "The report says it all."