EXCLUSIVE: Allegations of bias and cover-up have followed a bit of a dust-up at a local committee meeting last month
Political heavyweight: Sutton LibDem Barry Lewis
Six months ago, when he was elected as leader of Sutton Council, Barry Lewis was derided as a bit of a lightweight.
But after allegations of a punch being thrown during a local committee meeting at the Civic Offices last month, there’s reason to reconsider Lewis as a bit of a political heavyweight, amid allegations of an attempted cover-up by Sutton Council staff.
Lewis finds himself at the centre of a storm after he was accused of punching a fellow councillor, Patrick Magnus. Lewis denies that he punched Magnus, instead claiming he just “tapped” him.
But Inside Sutton has had sight of internal correspondence between some of those attending the Beddington and Wallington local committee on September 10 and the council’s monitoring officials – legal staff responsible for overseeing conduct and behaviour of all employees and councillors.
Councillor Magnus has refused to accept “Biggles” Lewis’s apology, and is thought to be considering a complaint to the police for common assault.
There is no video of the council meeting, but there is an audio recording.
Also attending the meeting last month were a couple of Metropolitan Police officers, so there should be little difficulty finding other witnesses to what one of the committee members has described as “an unprovoked assault”. To them, Lewis dealt Magnus a “hard blow”.
Monitored: Tim Martin is accused of trying to cover-up the punch row, an embarrassment for the LibDem leader
Opposition councillors – including Magnus, a Conservative – have also suggested that the council’s monitoring staff have been very lenient with Lewis, who heads the council’s 29-strong group of Liberal Democrats who have controlled Sutton for almost 35 years.
Failed aviation businessman “Biggles” Lewis was elected LibDem council leader in March, succeeding Ruth Dombey, who stood down for health reasons.
Today, Lewis told Inside Sutton: “I tapped Councillor Magnus on the arm to ask him to be quiet so I could hear a presentation at the committee.
“He objected and I apologised. I certainly did not punch him.”
But others at the meeting saw the incident differently.
Nick Mattey, an independent councillor, was sitting alongside Magnus at the time.
“I saw Barry Lewis punch Patrick Magnus hard in the arm. It was an unprovoked attack,” Mattey said.
“I have no idea why he punched him. There was nothing contentious being discussed. From memory it was about allocation of funds.”
Inside Sutton has seen an email sent earlier this month from a member of the council monitoring officer’s staff.
This confirms that Tim Martin, the council’s senior legal official, quickly decided that Lewis should be let off with just an apology. And Magnus is not being allowed to contest that decision.
“As the initial assessment letter sets out,” the official’s email states, “the decision of the monitoring officer is final…
“…An apology has been received which is generally considered an acceptable outcome when conflict arises on a councillor-to-councillor basis.” An unidentified “independent person” had been consulted and, would you believe it, they agreed with Martin’s final decision.
“In the light of the council’s assessment criteria it is not considered that this merits referral to a fuller investigation,” the monitoring official wrote. “The council has limited powers in relation to dealing with misconduct, you are of course entitled to raise this with any other outside organisations which have different powers.”
Yesterday, in his reply to the official, Patrick Magnus effectively accused the monitoring officer of bias towards the council’s controlling Liberal Democrats.
Target: Patrick Magnus, Conservative councillor
“I appreciate your work on this but realise that you are ultimately guided by Mr Martin, who does not appear to have much affinity for the opposition,” wrote the councillor, who was re-elected in 2022 after a four-year break.
“That’s my opinion formed over time… there has been a palpable degradation in services and outcomes provided by your department since I returned. The department is still functional to an extent but I’m no longer convinced that it is conducting its affairs democratically…”.
And Magnus confirmed that he had not accepted Lewis’s apology.
“An apology where Councillor Lewis ultimately states that he’s sorry he hit me but I deserved it is wholly unacceptable,” Magnus wrote.
“This tacit condonement of physical violence against an opposition member is a whole new level of low displayed by committee services at Sutton Council.”
And Mattey has filed his own complaint to monitoring officer Martin, accusing the official of “double standards” and “apparent bias in favour of the Liberal Democrats within the council, evident in the way you deal with code of conduct complaints”.
Mattey has undergone a series of “investigations” by Martin into his conduct following complaints which he regards as vexatious, all of them raised by LibDems on the council. Yesterday, Mattey wrote to Martin: “No councillor should ever resort to physical violence and thuggish behaviour. It is completely unacceptable that Councillor Lewis punched another councillor…
Complaint: Nick Mattey
“This is physical assault and should be referred to the police as a matter of course.
“Given your swift actions in investigating me, I expect the same standard to be applied to Councillor Lewis…
“Councillor Lewis may be the leader of the council, but this does not give him the right to physically assault anyone. Punching another councillor is a clear violation of the code of conduct, and I believe you are duty-bound to investigate this matter thoroughly and contact the police.
“If this incident is not properly investigated, I will have no choice but to report the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman.”
Another source at the Civic Offices said today: “Lewis’s nickname hs been ‘Biggles’ because of his collapsed businesses selling second-hand aircraft. If he gets away with this one, he won’t be able to complain in future when everyone refers to him as ‘Basher’ Lewis.”
Inside Sutton approached monitoring officer Tim Martin’s office for comment on what action they are considering taking over Magnus’s complaint. They did not respond.
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A formal complaint should be made to the police by those who witnessed the assault. Lewis should step down pending plod’s inquiries.