Former Plaid leader calls for councillor to quit over false paedophile release claims

Emily Price

Plaid Cymru’s former leader Leanne Wood has called for a Bridgend councillor to resign after he falsely claimed that a transgender paedophile had been released from prison.

Ms Wood accused Restore Britain’s Owain Clatworthy of “inciting fear” and offered her Facebook followers advice on how to complain about him after South Wales Police confirmed that the individual named in his social media post remains behind bars.

This week, Nation.Cymru reported how Cllr Clatworthy had claimed on Facebook that sex offender Scott Henwood, who now goes by the name of Scarlett Lee, had been “released back onto the streets of Bridgend”.

However, South Wales Police later confirmed that this was not true and that Lee is due to remain in custody until May 2027.

Despite this, the Pyle, Kenfig Hill and Cefn Cribwr councillor has not amended his post, meaning the false claim remains publicly available on Facebook.

The post has been shared hundreds of times, with commenters expressing concerns about whether the sex offender could be living in their area.

Ms Wood subsequently shared Nation.Cymru’s report on social media and criticised the councillor’s decision to leave the post online.

She wrote: “It’s bad enough when random numpties on Facebook make up stories that get everyone wound up.

“When a councillor does it, that’s another level. An apology isn’t enough. It’s inciting fear. He should resign.”

In the comments beneath her post, Ms Wood, who describes herself as a “left political activist”, also shared details of the statutory ethical standards framework for councillors, along with guidance on how constituents can submit a formal complaint to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.

She wrote: “Any person may make a complaint to Ombudsman Wales that a member has failed to comply with their authority’s code of conduct.

“Where the Ombudsman concludes an investigation is appropriate, they may conduct the investigation themself or refer the matter to the relevant monitoring officer for investigation and subsequent adjudication by the local standards committee.”

Ms Wood also highlighted examples of conduct that could breach a council’s code of conduct, including behaviour that brings councillors or the authority into disrepute or negatively affects its reputation.

She added that failing to treat people equally on grounds including gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, age or religion could also constitute a breach.

Cllr Clatworthy has already been the subject of several complaints to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales this year.

In August, Bridgend County Borough Council formally reported the Restore Britain councillor to the public services watchdog, alleging that he may have breached the members’ code of conduct by using the council’s official branding on a letter sent to a clergyman containing controversial comments about the LGBTQ+ community.

Bridgend Pride, along with members of the public, also submitted separate complaints about his social media activity, including comments he has made about Muslims and Islam.

However, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales confirmed that it was not investigating those complaints, as they did not meet the necessary threshold for a formal probe.

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