A councillor running for election in this week’s local elections previously hid behind the identity of a woman who did not exist to express his concerns about the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions.
Liberal Democrat candidate David Melvin, who is running to be West Oxfordshire District Council’s councillor for the Carterton North East Ward, previously was a member of Carterton Town Council but was forced to resign in June 2020 after he sent an email to Carterton’s mayor using a false identity.
Mr Melvin wrote an email to Conservative councillor Michele Mead, Carterton’s mayor at the time, to express his objections to the town council’s decision to relax Covid-19 restrictions at the town market.
However, instead of sending the email to Ms Mead and councillor James Mills using his own email address, Mr Melvin chose to use the false identity of Julie Burden, who does not exist.
Ms Mead has told the Oxford Mail that Mr Melvin’s willingness to hide behind a false identity showed he was “not fit” to be running for public office again.
At the time of the incident, Mr Melvin chose to resign after he was caught out by the council for creating an email address under the name of Julie Burden.
Mr Melvin wrote to Ms Mead in an email on June 5 which said: “I confirm that I am resigning as a town councillor with immediate effect.
“I will wipe and return the council iPad next week.”
Carterton’s town clerk at the time, Ron Spurs, said: “What Mr Melvin did was a breach of the standards you would expect of someone in public office.
“He admitted what he had done when confronted and accepted his behaviour was inappropriate.”
Image: Oxford Mail