Critics call for Ray Mallon to be sacked

Jan 1 2012 by Rachel Wearmouth, Sunday Sun

CRITICS have called for Ray Mallon to face the sack after watchdogs ruled he brought Middlesbrough's highest office into disrepute.

The “Robocop” mayor breached the Standards Board for England’s Code of Conduct three times, but investigators say no action should be taken.

However, rivals believe he was shown “extraordinary leniency” after a probe into his behaviour in the wake of the “Mallongate” tapes saga, published exclusively by the Sunday Sun.

The investigation came after recordings emerged in which made comments about a female council colleague and branded cabbies “f***ing thick”.

The Standards Board found Mr Mallon brought his office into disrepute by offering to assist Boro Taxis with a court case against the council.

It also found that he failed to declare an interest during two meetings as the dispute about the town’s taxi trade escalated. But it added that, under Human Rights legislation, Mr Mallon had a right to a private life and, during the conversations, he was acting as an individual not as a council advocate.

The board added that, in this instance, Mr Mallon “lacked judgment” but dismissed allegations he failed to treat others with respect; compromised the impartiality of council officers, and used his position improperly to confer an advantage.

Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Sun, Boro Taxis’ boss Mohammed Bashir said his decision to release private recordings of the mayor has now been justified.

“We believed that we were being treated unfairly,” he claimed.

“Mayor Mallon led me to believe that he was my friend. He led me to believe that he agreed that I was being treated unfairly and he criticised the conduct of council officers to me. This in turn led me to believe that we were correct in our view of the council.

“We commenced litigation and Mayor Mallon continued to lead me to believe that he thought we were right, even offering to be a witness at the court case for Boro Cars.

“What I did not know at the time was that he was actually of a different view and that he was supporting the council. When I discovered the truth, we released recordings of private conversations which I had with Mayor Mallon to show that he was saying different things to different people.

“The decision to release the tape recordings of Mr Mallon was an extremely difficult decision to make. The purpose of releasing the tapes was not for any action to be taken, the reason was to in some way establish the truth and, from the full Standards Board report, it can be seen that to some extent this has now been achieved.”

The Lib Dem mayoral candidate, Chris Foote Wood, was among those who reported concerns about Mr Mallon’s conduct .

He said: “On the evidence which I submitted to the Standards Board, this is the verdict that I fully expected.

“What I did not expect was the extraordinary leniency shown to Mr Mallon by the Standards Board.

“These are very serious charges, in my view more than enough to justify Mr Mallon being barred from office.”

The report adds that Mr Mallon has apologised to the woman about whom he made a sex slur, and “did not publicly lie” about doing so.

Mr Mallon said: “As the investigating officer found, my interventions were well intentioned and aimed at trying to get this dispute resolved in a fair and equitable manner.

“The fact that they feel there is no need for further action confirms that these were technical breaches.

“Had they not been technical breaches, there is little doubt I would have faced a full hearing.

“So far as the disrepute finding is concerned, I find it ironic that I have been found in breach for attempting to assist one of the complainants.

“I believe Standards for England in their judgement recognised the role of the elected mayor as one which involves getting stuck in to problems and resolving them for the benefit of all.

“That is what I did and I believe my actions were justified.”