Hearing deferred over Luton councillors' lockdown breach after solicitor pleads for more time

The solicitors representing one of the three councillors asked for more time after an in-depth investigation by the borough council's monitoring officer.

The councillors, Tahir Malik - who resigned as mayor, Waheed Akbar and Asif Masood, issued an apology, after ignoring social distancing rules at an event in the town.

Councillor Malik was shown to be wearing a mask at one stage, but later on it was hanging below his chin.

Photos and a video of the gathering in the garden of a private property appeared on social media, triggering hundreds of complaints and prompting local and national news coverage.

Luton Borough Council's director of human resources and monitoring officer, Angela Claridge, was asked to investigate the complaints based on the evidence.

Yesterday (Thursday), she updated the council's standards committee and said that a provisional date for the hearing had been set.

"I have today received some representation from the legal firm of solicitors representing one of the councillors, who has asked if we can defer that date and rearrange," she added.

"I apologise if we're messing around with dates. It's difficult to get everyone in the right place at the right time.

"We'll be possibly moving that date, but I'll be in touch with you all very soon."

There are two other unrelated investigations also coming to the adjudication stage very quickly, according to the monitoring officer.

"And I have another two complaints against councillors at the informal stage," she said.

"So there are five councillors currently subject to complaints which are heading towards the final hearing stage, which will be held later this month or possibly into October."

Labour Northwell councillor Yasmin Waheed said: "It's paramount that people need representation, although it's frustrating that it's prolonging the process.

"But it's not fair if they don't get representation, so I agree with that."

A 6,200-signature petition calling for the three councillors to resign was also submitted to the council.

In a statement, after the local assessment panel meeting, chief executive Robin Porter said the public deserves to know the outcome of the in-depth investigation as soon as possible.