A police chief who attended protests over the placement of asylum seekers in Crowborough barracks has threatened legal action after she was censured at a meeting.
Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne OBE has instructed solicitors to pursue a judicial review against Sussex Police and Crime Panel.
In January, council members voted 10-4 in favour of a motion declaring they had “lost confidence in the commissioner and in the commissioner’s conduct”.
The motion received cross-party backing from Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative representatives on the panel.
A spokeswoman for the commissioner’s office confirmed legal advisers had been engaged to challenge the non-binding vote of no confidence.
“The PCP has been invited to withdraw the censure motion and to issue a public apology to the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner for censuring her unlawfully,” the spokeswoman stated.
Ms Bourne has accused panel members of harassment and intimidation following the vote.
The censure followed Ms Bourne’s attendance at a demonstration in Crowborough on November 8, where protesters gathered against plans to house asylum seekers at a former military facility.
A police chief who attended Crowborough protests has threatened legal action after she was censured at a council meeting
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Crowborough Training Camp has been the site of multiple protests since authorities announced it would accommodate over 500 men awaiting decisions on their asylum applications.
The panel’s motion declared that her failure to remain impartial had brought both her office and policing into disrepute.
“We therefore censure her for her actions,” the motion stated.
According to meeting minutes, Ms Bourne maintained that her sole purpose in attending the protest was to listen to local residents and understand their concerns.
The long serving offical said she was ‘on trial for doing my job’
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ASSOCIATION OF POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONERS
Ms Bourne, who has held the commissioner role since 2012 and is currently campaigning to become the first Sussex mayor, told panel members she felt harassed simply for carrying out her duties as commissioner.
She described the motion as a “coordinated personal attack on my integrity” and declared she was “on trial for doing my job“.
Her chief executive and monitoring officer, Mark Streater, requested that it be formally noted that he did not consider the motion to fall within the panel’s official responsibilities.
The commissioner’s legal team argues the panel acted beyond its statutory authority and violated Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protect freedom of expression and assembly.
The panel’s clerk had advised during the meeting that while members could vote on properly proposed motions, any such decision would be non-binding and the commissioner would retain the right to respond.
A Sussex Police and Crime Panel spokesman said: “We have now received correspondence from the commissioner’s solicitors, to which we will be responding fully in due course.”
Sussex’s committee is made up of councillors from across the 15 local authorities in the region and is intended to reflect its political composition, and includes two independent co-opted members.
Of those present at the meeting, 10 who voted in favour of the motion included five Liberal Democrats, three Labour and two Green, while of the four who voted against, three were Tories and one was independent.
In January, council members voted 10-4 in favour of a motion declaring they had ‘lost confidence in the commissioner and in the commissioner’s conduct’
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Last month, a residents’ group lost a bid to bring a High Court challenge against the Home Office after it announced proposals to use a military training camp as accommodation for asylum seekers.
Crowborough Shield, a campaign group, took legal action against the Government after it announced it was considering housing up to 540 men at the site in East Sussex in October.
The Home Office decided to proceed with the plan in January, with 27 men housed at the camp last month despite protests in the town and opposition from Wealden District Council.
Crowborough Shield began legal action in December, before the decision to go ahead with the plan had been made.
