Deputy facing reprimand vote refuses to comment for now

Deputy Gavin St Pier told the Guernsey Press that he would not be making any comment on the rejection of his appeal until the Assembly had voted on the proposal to reprimand him, which is expected to be later this month or next month.

‘As a courtesy to the States of Deliberation, I will not be making any public comment on this matter until my political colleagues have had an opportunity to debate the matter,’ he said.

Deputy St Pier lodged an appeal in May last year after the former members’ code of conduct panel, which has now been replaced by a commissioner for standards, ruled that he had broken the code during a speech in the Assembly in 2022 in which he criticised the island’s safeguarding services and made critical remarks about local paediatrician Sandie Bohin.

After considering complaints made by the British Medical Association, the Medical Specialist Group and Dr Bohin herself, the panel found that some of Deputy St Pier’s statements were ‘seriously and fundamentally misleading’ and recommended that he should be reprimanded by the Bailiff.

In a report published on Monday, parts of which had been leaked to some media last month, the Guernsey appeals commissioner Martin Jelley rejected all nine of Deputy St Pier’s grounds for appeal.

In his report, he stated that he also rejected the option of increasing the recommended punishment from a formal reprimand to a suspension, explaining that the latter would be disproportionate.

If States members agree that Deputy St Pier should be reprimanded, he will be called to his feet by Sir Richard McMahon during a States meeting and admonished. That is believed to have happened to a States member only once previously, although a member of the current Assembly, Deputy Christopher Le Tissier, received the stronger sanction of a suspension earlier in this term.

‘It is clear to me that Dr Bohin has suffered significantly, both professionally and personally, from being named by Deputy St Pier in the House,’ said Mr Jelley.

‘Subsequent media coverage and social media fallout has had a devastating impact on her and has undoubtedly damaged her professional reputation, particularly locally on the island.’

Deputy St Pier has already been cleared of breaching parliamentary privilege over the same speech about safeguarding services.

Deputy Peter Ferbrache, who sat on the investigation panel into the alleged breach of parliamentary privilege and drafted a minority opinion explaining why he believed Deputy St Pier should be found guilty, also declined to comment yesterday on Mr Jelley’s judgement.