A councillor pushed a political rival into a stack of cereal boxes in their local Morrisons supermarket by shoving him with his stomach, a court has heard. Neil Ploughman had to be restrained by store staff before "kicking out" at 66-year-old Simon Mallett, who carried out "an exaggerated fall backwards".
They both represented the Labour Party on Belper Town Council at the time, Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court. Ploughman, 56, who was also a trade union official, was also a councillor at Amber Valley Borough Council, reports DerbyshireLive. Neither is now a serving councillor.
Thomas Beardsworth, representing Ploughman, said: “Mr Ploughman and Mr Mallett are known to each other and it is known they have a mutual dislike for each other, having worked together as town councillors. He (the defendant) pushed him using his belly and Mr Mallett fell into some corn flakes and there was said to be a kick which followed, but that’s really not apparent from the CCTV.
