A DISTRICT councillor who “admitted punching” a man in the face outside a village pub has been sanctioned by a council disciplinary panel,

Cllr Bruce Hogan was ordered to quit his Forest Council role with the local Citizens Advice Bureau following the May 26 Bank Holiday incident outside Lydbrook’s Colliers Inn, and the matter will be reported for debate to a meeting of the full council tomorrow (Thursday, October 18).

Police took no action over the May incident, but a report by the council’s Standards Panel states that the Labour councillor and former science teacher had breached its Code of Conduct.

Cllr Hogan has declined to comment until after tomorrow’s full council meeting, but has put forward a motion for the council watchdog to change its procedures.

His motion says: “If a complaint is received by the Forest of Dean District Council that a member of the council has engaged in illegal activity/practices, no action will be taken by the Standards Panel unless and until the matter has been referred to the police and any resulting judicial processes have been concluded or confirmation has been received from the police that no action will be taken.”

Two complaints were made to the council about the conduct of the Lydbrook and Ruardean ward member following a post on social media by a woman who claimed that her husband had suffered a cut face.

The matter was raised by fellow Lydbrook and Ruardean ward member Cllr Andrew Gardiner (Ind) and former Lydbrook Parish Council chairwoman Rachel Mowatt.

The panel’s report to the full council says the complaint centres around an incident “whereby it is alleged Cllr Hogan was involved in an altercation outside the Colliers inn, Lydbrook, and punched an individual in the face.

“During the investigation, Cllr Hogan admitted punching the individual in the face. However, he contended that he was not acting in his capacities as a councillor at the time of the incident and as such the Code of Conduct was not engaged.”

The Standards Panel accepted that they were not there to regulate a councillor’s private life, but ruled at its September 28 meeting that “as an elected representative of the council, Cllr Hogan should act with regards to the interests of the public at all times.”

As the incident also happened in a “public place and related to a public matter,” they were “satisfied that the Code of Conduct was engaged and resolved that Cllr Hogan was in breach.”

The committee said he had breached three aspects of the code – namely that “members must treat others with respect; members have a duty to uphold the law; and members must not take any act or omission that would undermine the council’s duty to promote and maintain high standards of conduct.”

Cllr Hogan has no right of appeal, said the standards panel.

Gloucestershire Police said in May that they had received a call from the Colliers Inn about a disturbance on the premises, but the matter had been resolved.

A pub spokesman at the time said a man had been asked to leave, but it was not Cllr Hogan.