Ex-council worker embroiled in political scandal

Simon Carter

A FORMER Oldham Council worker sacked for looking at indecent images of children has been caught up in a political scandal.

Simon Carter was sacked by Oldham Council in 2010 after being caught looking at sexual images on his computer, including pictures of 'pre-teens'. The information was passed to the police, but no further action was taken.

But Carter became a councillor for Bury Council in 2012, who were given fresh information by an Oldham Council officer in April, 2015, concerned they should know that Carter was on the adoption register.

Two separate independent inquiries have since found that Bury Council delayed its child protection procedures when the allegations surfaced ­- five weeks before the general election.

The allegations led to police raiding Carter's house where they recovered a computer containing images of child porn, including the most serious Category A kind. He was convicted five months later at Bolton Crown Court and given a three-year community sentence and placed on the sex offender register for five years. The case has now caused political upheaval at Bury Council.

The inquiries led to the resignations of chief executive Mike Owen and director of children's services Mark Carriline, last month.

Although he was immediately removed from Bury Council's list of people approved to adopt children, the reports found Mr Owen and Mr Carriline waited up to five weeks to carry out a string of child protection measures that should have been implemented within 48 hours of the allegations being made. That included taking eight days to inform the two schools where Carter was a governor.

On learning of the incident Mr Owen did not immediately inform his director of children's services Mr Carriline ­- who legally had responsibility for child safeguarding ­- or anyone else in Bury town hall, other than the Labour council leader, Councillor Mike Connolly.

One of the inquiries concluded that the officers delayed investigating the allegations in order to help Labour's chances in 2015's knife-edge general election ­- putting off child protection procedures so that the claims about Carter did not surface ahead of the poll. Mr Owen has strenuously denied this. Carter was convicted five months after the election.

The second report concludes that there was no 'cover up' but highlighted a particularly 'close working relationship' between Mr Owen and the council leader.

A third forthcoming investigation into political members is likely to look at their involvement in the delays and their actions once the allegations surfaced. Former Bury Council leader and mayor, Councillor Connolly has been suspended by the Labour party ahead of an investigation into his conduct.