Scots councillor apologises after 'bullying official and disrespecting staff'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Stirling councillor suspended for five months for bullying a senior official and disrespecting staff has apologised and vowed: “I will reflect on my behaviour”.Stirling North Labour councillor Danny Gibson was found to have behaved disrespectfully towards council officers and representatives, breaching the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.A conduct hearing was told he pressured officials, launched a personal attack on a senior officer and belittled staff in front of others at public and private meetings.He was deputy leader of the council at the time the misconduct took place, in 2018 and 2019, serving in a joint SNP/Labour administration.A further allegation that he called a senior female official a “boot” in a telephone call was not upheld.The Standards Commission for Scotland issued a statement on Friday which said the breaches had the “potential to bring the council into disrepute” and that Cllr Gibson’s behaviour was “entirely inappropriate and unacceptable”.

Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area. They branded his conduct bullying and said: “Stirling Councillor Danny Gibson was found to have breached the Councillors’ Code of Conduct for behaving disrespectfully towards council officers, and for having bullied a senior council officer.”In a statement, Cllr Gibson said: “I wish to offer my sincere apologies to all of those affected by my conduct.“I fully accept the judgement of the Standards Commission and I will reflect on my behaviours and make all necessary adjustments.“I have written to Chief Executive Carol Beattie resigning from all my committee positions and external council appointments.“Upon my return from suspension, I hope I can draw a line under this and continue to represent my