Hackney mayor suspended by Labour over photo with arrested councillor

Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville has been suspended by the Labour Party after a photo showed him at a social event with an ex-councillor arrested over child abuse images.

Tom Dewey was arrested on 29 April 2022 and a social media photo shows him with Mr Glanville at a Eurovision party on 14 May the same year.

Dewey later admitted three counts of possessing indecent images of children.

Mr Glanville said he had not been aware of the "full extent" of allegations.

A Labour source confirmed the photo showing the pair at an event together "is a clear contradiction of information that was previously given by Philip Glanville to us, and the media".

Although suspended from the Labour party, Mr Glanville will remain the elected mayor of Hackney.

Hackney Council's interim chief executive of Dawn Carter-McDonald said: "According to the council's constitution he remains the elected Mayor of Hackney. The council remains focused on ensuring we continue to provide the best services for our residents."

Tom Dewey was arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children a week before he was elected a councillor in Hackney on 5 May 2022.

Mr Glanville, who shared a house with Dewey, told a council meeting he "was not made aware of the police investigation until after the May 2022 elections, when I was told by the council."

The council says it was informed of the raid on 13 May, a day before the social event took place.

The Labour Party says it was notified on 16 May of Dewey's arrest. He resigned as a councillor on the same day.

In a statement, Mr Glanville said: "Being with Tom Dewey at all on May 14 was clearly an error of judgement for which I wholeheartedly apologise.

"I was told of his arrest, but not the full extent of the charges, in a brief discussion with the council chief executive the same day.

"I shouldn't have been at the event in which we were photographed but I did so as I feared to cancel the event, or not attend myself, may alert Tom to what I knew, during what I understood to be a live criminal case.

"This does not alter the fact I had no involvement in the case, and shouldn't deter from the actions, including moving out of the house the following day, as well as others I have taken since his resignation and conviction, which I have made clear in previous statements."

The National Crime Agency (NCA) carried out a raid on Dewey's house after "receiving four cyber tipline reports identifying the user of an online Google account who had uploaded indecent prohibited images of children to his online storage".

During the raid, NCA officers seized two laptops, two tablets and a hard drive where 249 indecent images of children were found dating from January 2008 to April 2022.

Dewey was charged in June this year and sentenced on 15 August at Wood Green Crown Court after admitting three counts of possessing indecent images of children - five images in the most serious category A, 41 in category B and 203 in category C.

He was given a suspended sentence and was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

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