A COUNCIL leader has been cleared of breaching his code of conduct after allegedly making a homophobic comment and “throat-slitting” gesture.

Adrian Fluker was investigated after three complaints against him following an incident at a meeting of Maldon District Council last September. The findings were put before a standards committee last Thursday.

Mr Fluker was found not to have breached the code by a vote of four to three, so no further action will be taken.

Councillor Sue White said: “I read the report of the deputy monitoring officer and the document next to the report.

“I also note, with regards to both complaints, councillor Adrian Fluker has apologised to both councillor Richard Siddall personally and the council as a whole. I also note that he has voluntarily undertaken diversity training. With regards to the evidence and context of events I do not believe he has failed to comply with the code of conduct.

“I would therefore like to propose, with regards to ... the report, that in relation to complaints one and two, Councillor Fluker has not failed to comply with the members’ code of conduct and no further action needs to be taken in respect of the matters considered at the meeting.”

Councillor Karl Jarvis, who was against the motion, said: “I think what we’ve been shown so far suggests to me that he has failed with the code of conduct.

“I would be putting that motion to the committee.”

The committee then voted on Councillor White’s motion, which was passed.

In a statement, Mr Fluker told the Standard: “As soon as I became aware that I had unintentionally offended someone, I apologised unreservedly and accounted for my actions.

“In making their decision the joint standards committee would have taken everything into consideration and noted that of my own volition I had attended equality and diversity training.

“As a result of these issues I have suffered a substantial amount of bullying and abuse on social media and whilst this may now be the norm in all levels of politics, I do find this type of behaviour disheartening and distracting and not least of all as it has been going on for five months.”

Mr Fluker, the Conservative councillor for Southminster, added: “Moving forward I hope the council will now come together as a whole and focus on delivering its corporate objectives which in turn will preserve our unique district for future generations to come.”