Sandwell Council bullying and sexism probe delayed by police
West Midlands Police has delayed a council probe into bullying and sexism while it conducts its own investigation.
The authority's former assistant chief executive Melanie Dudley lodged a complaint in October concerning allegations that Councillor Richard Marshall sent offensive Whatsapp messages about her to a local blogger.
But the force said today it had blocked the council from looking into the matter until a police investigation was complete.
A police spokesman said today: "West Midlands Police is aware of concerns raised in relation to posts on an internet blog. We have viewed the comments at length and an investigation is ongoing.
"We have advised the council that they may wish to wait for the outcome of any police investigation before pursuing any misconduct matters internally."
Ms Dudley has complained over the length of time taken to deal with her complaint, and accused the council of putting it to 'the bottom of the pile'.
It was raised in Parliament last month by James Morris, the Tory MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis, who said the messages came from Councillor Marshall, but followed a meeting with Mr Eling, who said he wanted to ‘open a line of communication’ with the blogger.
“They include both Councillors Eling and Marshall asking the blogger to give the assistant chief executive a ‘kicking’ and supplying information relating to her personal life,” Mr Morris told the Commons.
Mr Eling has said the council's investigation was 'not to be taken forward' while police investigate 'matters that relate to the evidence base that is being used'.
