Suspended Labour Mayor of Hackney Quits After Being Caught Partying With Paedophile
The mayor of Hackney has resigned following his association with a disgraced former councillor.
Mayor Philip Glanville was suspended when he was pictured with councillor Tom Dewey at a Eurovision party in May. The photograph was taken hours after news broke fellow Labour councillor Dewey was arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children. Deleted Facebook images show Glanville taking a selfie at a Eurovision party with his flatmate Tom Dewey on the night he was informed of his arrest by the council's chief executive.
Hackney MP Diane Abbott, herself currently suspended from the Labour Party, said Mr Glanville should consider his position for lying whilst in public office, as he had claimed he did not contact the high-flying member of the party’s right after being told of the police investigation into his crimes last May.
The former shadow home secretary also suggested there had been a cover-up by Labour bosses who banned local members from talking about the investigation into Dame Meg Hillier's former agent.
She told the Morning Star "I think he needs to consider his position because he has misled people and the images that Dewey had were very serious. It's all very concerning really because Philip had said he had not spoken to Dewey since becoming aware, but he is at a party, so he has spoken to him."
"He also gave the impression that he wasn't living in the house at the time. The local party hasn't been allowed to discuss it and party members are concerned about that because once he had been sentenced there was no reason why they shouldn’t be able to." she said.
A Hackney Labour source who shared the photo with the Star, which is timestamped to 9.40pm May 14 2022, said "It strengthens the call for an investigation because it looks very much like a big cover-up — like this was done for electoral gain."
A second source added "It kind of beggars belief. Perhaps he naively assumed this photography would never appear in the public domain. There are questions about why the National Crime Agency (NCA) took a fortnight to notify Hackney Council of the arrest."
It was earlier reported that Tom Dewey, 36, was charged as part of an NCA investigation into child abuse photographs found at his home. He briefly served as a councillor in Hackney before resigning over the incident – attempting to hide the true reason by citing "personal reasons."
After years of Labour campaigning, Dewey was elected as a councillor for the De Beauvoir ward in May 2022. However, a month before he was elected to the council, in April 2022, NCA officials detained him at his Hackney house before releasing him while the case was being investigated.
As with most resignations relating to one of their politicians, the national Labour Party failed to disclose the reason behind his suspension – worryingly concealing Dewey's paedophilia from the local public.
Mr Dewey was charged with three counts of making indecent images of children, possession of extreme pornographic images and possession of prohibited images of children.
In court, the former Labour councillor admitted a charge of making five Category A indecent images of children on 29 April 2022 in Hackney, a further charge of making four Category B indecent images on the same date, as well as making 203 Category C indecent images of children on the same date.
Dewey also admitted to possessing 78 extreme pornographic images of children on 29 April 2022, and having 1,523 prohibited images of children in his possession on or before 20 January 2022.
Dewey's resignation triggered a by-election which saw Joseph Walker elected in July last year, with 758 votes out of 1,822.
Meanwhile, opposition parties in Hackney are demanding an inquiry into why the local Labour group accepted Dewey as a candidate despite him being arrested a month before the selection process.
A Hackney Council spokesperson said "Tom Dewey was elected on May 5, 2022 and resigned on May 16, 2022. The council was not notified of his arrest prior to the elections of May 2022 by the National Crime Agency (NCA). As the case is subject to criminal proceedings, we are not in a position to provide any further comment."
At Dewey's court appearance last month, he was released on bail and committed to Isleworth Crown Court for sentencing on August 15.
Appearing in court last week for sentencing, prosecutor Margia Mostafa told the court "On April 29, 2022, NCA officers received four cyber tipline reports identifying the user of an online Google account. The user had uploaded indecent prohibited images of children to his online storage."
NCA officers went to his home in north London and seized two laptops, two tablets and a hard drive containing 249 indecent images of children, including five in the most serious category involving sadistic abuse.
Dewey had also downloaded 78 extreme pornographic images involving violence and graphic injuries as well as sex with animals, and 1523 CGI and cartoon images involving the sexual abuse of children. The court heard the images had been downloaded between 2008 and April 2022, with the last ones being saved two days before his arrest.
Full details of the abuse pictures were not revealed in court, but Ms Mostafa told the judge he could read a report which detailed "sadism", "penetration", and the ages of the children involved.
Dewey, now living in a cottage in Petersfield in Hampshire, pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children, possessing extreme pornographic images, and possessing prohibited images of children.
However, despite his long history of paedophilia, the judge shockingly decided to spare the former Labour Councillor from serving a prison sentence. He will instead only be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. Dewey had shared a flat with Hackney Labour Mayor Philip Glanville, and continued to do so despite the mayor understanding that Dewey had been arrested and charged over the vile offences.
In his resignation letter, Mr Glanville wrote "I had my trust betrayed, but in turn I made an error of judgement and was not as transparent as I should have been. For that I accept full responsibility."
"Politics is never easy, but it has been a privilege to work with, and for, some of the very best of local government for the best part of 17 years." he added.
He continued "My final message as mayor is to the amazing people of Hackney – you and the organisations and businesses here are at the heart of why I chose to make Hackney my home and why this role meant so much to me. Keep standing up for your open, diverse values, keep challenging those who put themselves forward to lead and keep making this the very best borough in London."
The resignation will trigger a mayoral election.
Hackney's acting chief executive Dawn Carter-McDonald said the mayor's last day of office would be on Friday.