St Pier facing suspension over disputed phone call

He was found to have broken numerous sections of the code during a telephone call last year with a journalist from the Guardian who was looking into several families’ concerns about paediatric services in Guernsey. No story has been published.

Standards commissioner Dr Melissa McCullough recommended suspending Deputy St Pier from all States work for 30 days after a months-long investigation into a complaint she received from local consultant paediatrician Dr Sandie Bohin.

An appeal by Deputy St Pier was largely dismissed by appeals commissioner Martin Jelley, but he partially upheld a claim that the sanction was disproportionate, and has recommended a slightly shorter suspension of 25 days.

The States Assembly & Constitution Committee will now have to submit the whole case to the States Assembly for a final decision on Deputy St Pier’s future.

‘Evidence shows a deliberate and sustained effort to unfairly criticise, discredit and cause harm to Dr Bohin’s professional and personal reputation,’ said Dr McCullough in her summary of the case against Deputy St Pier.

‘In my view, this pattern of behaviour fits squarely within the established definition of bullying and is entirely inconsistent with the values of respect, fairness and accountability expected of States members.’

Sections of the code which she concluded Deputy St Pier had broken during his phone call with the UK journalist included putting private interest before public interest, jeopardising the reputation of the States, and disclosing confidential information.

In his appeal, Deputy St Pier claimed the allegations against him were supported by little or no evidence and contained numerous inaccuracies. He insisted that he merely confirmed information which the journalist had already collected from other sources.

He said that Dr McCullough had chosen to ‘relitigate prior complaints’ submitted by Dr Bohin and others which had already been dealt with through formal processes.

In October last year, the Assembly reprimanded Deputy St Pier following a code of conduct investigation into a speech he made in 2022 during which he criticised Dr Bohin and paediatric services. He was cleared of abusing parliamentary privilege over the same matter.

Since then, Deputy St Pier has been re-elected to the States, finishing seventh in June’s island-wide poll, and made vice-president and treasury lead of the Policy & Resources Committee.

The parties involved in the current case are bound by a confidentiality clause in the code of conduct rules, but the Guernsey Press obtained all of the papers from an anonymous source.

Deputy St Pier provided a written statement when approached for comment yesterday.

‘This matter should not have been made public before the process has concluded. It appears to repeat the leak of the code of conduct panel’s report on the same issue in 2023,’ he said.

‘I cannot comment further on the content until such time as Sacc publishes a policy letter on the matter.

‘While I am a member of that committee, obviously I will recuse myself from any deliberations the committee may have on the issues arising.

‘Although this has been dragging on for over three years, I am staying focused on my key responsibilities.

‘I remain concerned, as I have been throughout, that the wellbeing of families and their children who have been failed by our healthcare system are once again marginalised by this repetitious sideshow.’

Permission was granted earlier this week for an urgent question to be asked at today’s States meeting about any code of conduct cases being dealt with by Sacc.