Policing chief threatens legal action over no confidence motion after protest

A policing chief is threatening to take legal action after she faced a vote of no confidence over attending a protest against asylum seekers being housed at a military site.

Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Katy Bourne is demanding for the formal criticism be withdrawn and for a public apology to be issued after she was censured in a non-binding motion for attending a march at Crowborough in November.

A series of protests have been held in the East Sussex town against the use of Crowborough Training Camp to accommodate more than 500 men while their asylum claims are processed.

Passed by a majority vote, the Sussex Police and Crime Panel said it has “lost confidence” in the commissioner and her conduct after attending a protest on November 8 and her comments on Radio Sussex on December 30 “calling for asylum seekers to be fitted with electronic tags” as well as other actions on social media.

“Her lack of impartiality has brought the office of Commissioner and policing into disrepute,” the motion read.

“We therefore censure her for her actions.”

Minutes of the meeting on January 30 show Ms Bourne, an elected official, expressed her motivations had purely been to engage with local residents and hear their concerns, and that she stated she felt harassed for simply doing her job.

The minutes also said she suggested her interactions with social media had been in a personal capacity and some of her comments had been misrepresented.

The PCC chief executive and monitoring officer Mark Streater also asked for it to be put on record that he did not recognise the motion as a formal duty of the panel and awaited a report from the panel’s clerk to justify the decision.

The document said advice from the officer of the clerk confirmed in the meeting it was within the panel’s remit to vote on any motions which had been proposed and seconded, but it would not be binding and the PCC would have a right to respond.

A spokeswoman for the PCC’s office said: “I can confirm that the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner has taken legal advice and instructed our solicitors to contact the legal advisor to the Sussex Police and Crime Panel (PCP).

“This is to issue a notice of proposed judicial review of the decision of the PCP to censure the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner at the meeting at County Hall in Lewes on 30th January.”

The spokeswoman said the PCC is advised this procedure is outside of the panel’s statutory authority and was in breach of Articles 10 and 11, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association, of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Sussex Police and Crime Panel have been contacted for comment.