Chief Pleas Speaker did write, but did so privately

Mr Doyle’s complaint followed then-Conseiller Guille’s behaviour toward him at the hustings for the 2018 Sark election.

The panel upheld the complaint and Mr Guille – he had by this time resigned as a conseiller – was told to write letters of apology to Mr Doyle and the then-Speaker.

In an interview with the Guernsey Press, Mr Guille said that he had done neither, but he has now clarified that he did write a letter to Mr Doyle, but not as a result of the panel’s decision.

‘I did write a private and confidential letter to Mr Doyle. I did it purely because my wife and I supported his family while he and his wife were in prison,’ said Mr Guille.

Mr Doyle and his wife, Belinda Lanyon, were jailed for seven-and-a-half years and three-and-a-half years respectively in 2015 after being convicted of money-laundering offences.

Mr Guille’s case was the first heard by Sark’s Code of Conduct Panel, and its procedures were later criticised in Chief Pleas by Conseiller Peter La Trobe-Bateman, chairman of Policy & Finance.

Members were told that a review would take place, and Conseiller La Trobe-Bateman has told the Guernsey Press that this is well under way.

‘We are working with all the conseillers at the moment to try to develop a solution that works for Sark,’ he said.

‘It’s very new to us because Reg Guille was the first case that was tested and it highlighted some areas where it didn’t work very well.’

He hoped that changes could be recommended later this year, possibly by Easter ‘but definitely by summer’.