A South Tyneside councillor has been hit with a bankruptcy order over money owed to the local authority, but will not face disqualification from his position. John Robertson, elected as a councillor in the Primrose ward in May, was issued with a statutory demand followed by a bankruptcy petition by South Tyneside Council earlier this year over £8,661.83 owed to the local authority.
This related to the balance outstanding on two cost orders dating back to August 2013 and January 2014, which came after proceedings were unsuccessfully brought by Cllr Robertson and his son against the council. Newcastle Civil and Family Court on Friday, November 25, heard the council claim Cllr Robertson was playing a “cat and mouse game” and “went back” on previous assurances given over paying the debt.
However Cllr Robertson argued he had made “seven reasonable offers” of repayments and alleged the proceedings were “malicious” and brought with the “collateral purpose” to remove him as a councillor under the Local Government Act 1972. District Judge Michelle Temple ruled it was “entirely proper and appropriate that a bankruptcy order will be made”.
