A LABOUR councillor has apologised for his conduct after a committee found him to have brought Sandwell council into disrepute following an assault on a blogger.

But the victim of the assault – a citizen journalist – interrupted the apology and later said he would be making a further complaint.

Councillor Steve Melia, who represents Great Barr with Yew Tree, made the four minute apology on January 31 as the last item to be discussed during Sandwell council’s full council meeting.

It comes after councillor Melia was found by the council’s ethics and standards committee to have a “lack of remorse” for his actions and has “[fallen] short of the highest standard that is expected of our elected members.”

In February 2022, councillor Melia pleaded guilty to assault at Dudley magistrates court. He was conditionally discharged for 12 months and ordered to pay £130 legal costs and £200 compensation for the offence.

The assault in question took place on 7 December 2021 outside Sandwell council in Freeth Street, Oldbury.

At the time, the court heard Julian Saunders – a blogger who writes under the title ‘The Sandwell Skidder’ – was filming councillors walking across a car park before entering Sandwell council ahead of a full meeting.

Protestors against the development of the former Brandhall golf course also gathered outside Sandwell council on the night in question.

Mr Saunders questioned the councillors about potential corruption and cronyism at Sandwell council. Councillor Melia then walked past, pointed a finger at Mr Saunders, and knocked his phone out of his hand.

The committee met in December 2022 to discuss an external investigation commissioned by Sandwell council into the matter. The investigation by Verephi Limited cost the taxpayer £3,600.

During the meeting, Miranda Carruthers-Watt – the external investigator – concluded while councillors have a right to expect “respectful behaviour” from the public, she said citizen journalists – including the Sandwell Skidder – “must be free to criticise the government and our public institutions without the fear of prosecution.”

Labour councillor Keith Allcock, the chair of the ethics and standards committee, recommended councillor Melia to both verbally apologise during the next full council meeting, and send a written apology to Mr Saunders.

The committee also recommended the leader, Kerrie Carmichael, to request the council to strip councillor Melia of any committee positions he held.

During his apology, councillor Melia “asked the leader to accept my resignation from all committees that I currently sit on, so I can concentrate on development of my skills further.”

Councillor Melia told the chamber “at no time did I want to hurt anyone, I just wanted the filming to stop”.

He said: “The context that leads me to be in this position is because I did attempt to remove a mobile phone from a person’s hand while he was filming. I honestly believed that at the time there was no damage to the phone.

“Mayor, any councillor could feel vulnerable when walking into the council house when protesters are outside.

“No councillors object to protest but when one person brings a megaphone and calls councillors names, then that could provoke a person.

“I realised in retrospect that I was wrong to respond in the manner that I did. And I deeply regret my actions.

“Mayor, officers and members of Sandwell metropolitan borough council, I would like to sincerely offer my apologies to you all for my action and ensure I assure you that it will not be repeated under any circumstances.

“I would like to give you all the reassurance reassurance to know that my behaviour on that evening was totally out of character. And I want to emphasise that it will not happen again.”

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Saunders said he would be making a further complaint following the apology.

He said: “Note that [Kerrie Carmichael] was supposed to sack him but it was dressed up as a resignation. He should have resigned after the December hearing but this way he had clocked up another month and a half’s worth of special responsibility allowances.”

When asked by the LDRS if he believed councillor Melia had conflated him with protesters on the night of the assault, Mr Saunders said: “I couldn’t really say but he was fully aware that I had already disputed this allegation.”