Councillors from Jackie Weaver’s infamous Handforth Parish zoom call say their lives became 'hell' in the aftermath. Watch below as Councillor Aled Brewerton claims he received death threats since the incident:
Two years on, Brewerton and his father - who were on the December 2020 parish council call - still feel unwanted when going to local pubs.
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As you might remember, Weaver struggled to keep control of the unruly meeting after she was told she had no authority.
Aled told Weaver that she should 'read the standing orders – read them and understand them'.
Keith, 76, and Aled, 46, briefly became famous after the video became viral in February 2021.
Aled resigned from the council in April 2021.
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Aled claimed: “I’ve been told that I deserve to die and burn in hell. It's that bad that even my partner has been threatened.
"I didn't resign off the parish council because of any investigation; I resigned because the events made me ill and I was fed up.
“It was an absolute mess. Neighbouring councils wouldn’t work with us, we were the butt of all jokes. It really was embarrassing."
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He added: “Basically it’s been two years of hell.
"I’ve been told that my home address has been shared on the internet and social media.
"And when I’ve got to go out in public it makes me feel uneasy.”
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His dad Keith said: “It’s very easy to be abusive on the internet when it’s not a face-to-face meeting and you can use a different name.
“I went into a local pub with one of Aled’s friends on Aled’s birthday and people came in and started chanting at us.
“If we go to a pub, we go out of the village - we don’t go into local pubs because we do not wish to be involved in civil disobedience.
“It took me a fair while to convince Aled he could go into the village on his own and do his shopping."
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Keith and Aled also claim the video should not have been published in the first place due to privacy issues - which would have stopped the viral storm.
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The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said it had investigated a complaint but closed the case with no further action taken.
An ICO spokesperson said: "The council stated that the recording of these meetings is standard as they are public.
"As a result, we provided guidance around data protection issues including reminding them of the importance of ensuring their privacy policies are clear and advise members of the public that their data may be captured during the recording of these meetings.
"They were also reminded of the lawful basis that the data is processed. The case has since been closed with no further action taken."
Handforth Parish Council - now Handforth Town Council - operates in the eponymous Cheshire town, which is home to around 6,000 people.
Topics: UK News
Anish Vij