The chief executive of Caerphilly County Borough Council, his deputy and the authority’s head of legal are due to stand trial in the new year accused of misconduct in a public office.
Chief executive Anthony O’Sullivan, 55, of Ashley Grove, Penydarren Park, his deputy Nigel Barnett, 51, of Cwrt Neuadd Wen, Aberbargoed, and head of legal Daniel Perkins, 48, of Tudor Crescent, Brynmawr, appeared at Bristol Crown Court on May 13.
The three each face a single charge that they “wilfully and without reasonable excuse or justification misconducted yourself by deliberately engaging in course of conduct intending to circumvent provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 and prevent proper scrutiny of the senior officer pay award process”.
The offence is alleged to have been committed between June 1 and October 10 2012 at Caerphilly County Borough Council.
During the hearing the defendants spoke only to confirm their names and no pleas were entered.
A provisional trial date of January 5, 2015 was set with the trial expected to last between three and four weeks.
The trio, all released on unconditional bail, will next appear before the court on September 2 for a plea and case management hearing when they will enter a plea.
To which they are still suspended on full pay. Money that could perhaps be used to allow the cycle tour of Britain, or proms in the park to continue
I too am exasperated, Pamela, by the fact that we are paying people who do no work; however a little calm reflection is required here. These three men are the accused, at the moment. As such they have a right to be considered innocent unless they are proven guilty or enter such a plea.
It may be that in September they may enter a plea of ‘not guilty’ and further information may emerge in their trial which will implicate others as being responsible for the pay scandal.
I am willing to wait for this to happen. If the court finds that these men are guilty I will then expect the council to use any method at its disposal to recover all the money that has been paid out in salaries both during their suspension and during the alleged crimes. Thus from the 1st June 2012.