Alderney politician cautioned for code of conduct breach
Alderney States member Alex Snowdon, an island representative in the States of Guernsey, has been found guilty of a breach of the States members' code of conduct and been cautioned.
However, the complainant, local journalist David Nash, said he was unhappy that Mr Snowdon had not been suspended and said he intended to take the matter further.
‘It was a travesty,’ he said.
‘I have already written to Alderney President William Tate to see if there is any right of appeal. Should there be no local appeal process then I presume the next step is to escalate the affair through my press contacts in the Ministry of Justice in London.’
The code of conduct panel had found Mr Snowdon guilty of behaving in an inappropriate manner when he visited Mr Nash's home on 18 May, and later in a phone call.
Mr Nash claimed that Mr Snowdon had acted aggressively and used inappropriate language in their exchanges.
The dispute arose after Mr Snowdon was criticised in the Alderney Journal in an article he believed that Mr Nash had written.
After the altercation Mr Nash also reported the matter to the police, but the three-member code of conduct panel understood that no further action was being considered.
The panel said as the breach was of a minor nature, and that Mr Snowdon accepted responsibility for his actions and offered an apology, they concluded a caution was sufficient.
Mr Snowdon said he was grateful for the prompt, efficient and fair way the code of conduct panel and Guernsey Police had dealt with the matter.
‘The Guernsey Police have investigated the matter and concluded it is politically motivated,' he said.
'I am not getting dragged into a matter which has now been closed.’
However, Mr Nash said that he remained unhappy with the island's political leadership and lack of direction.
‘There was a call for Alderney to be governed by a commissioner at the last election and that is where we appear to be heading,' he said.
He added he had not spoken out before about the affair but was currently preparing an article for the Alderney Journal in which he would tell his side of the story.
‘Mr Snowdon may have apologised to the panel, but personally I have received no such apology, written or otherwise,’ he said.
