Liverpool’s deputy mayor is facing calls to resign after pleading guilty to driving off following a crash.
Lib Dem leader Richard Kemp called for deputy mayor Cllr Ann O’Byrne to stand down after it was revealed she had pleaded guilty to two driving offences – including driving away from the scene of a crash.
He said: “This wasn’t just going a few miles an hour over the speed limit – to leave the scene of an accident is unbelievable.
“One must speculate whether this had anything to do with her stepping down as deputy police and crime commissioner.”
However, Cllr O’Byrne, who described the crash as a “bump”, she said she had not known about it until her insurers got in touch sometime later.
And she insisted her decision to step down from being deputy crime commissioner had nothing to do with the prosecution and was instead so she could focus on the “critical” role of deputy mayor of Liverpool.
Cllr O’Byrne had pleaded guilty to the driving offences before Wirral magistrates and was ordered to pay fines and costs of £565.
She was charged with driving “without due care and attention” on April 16 in a Red Mazda RX-8 on Brunswick Street, Liverpool city centre, and of failing to stop after a road accident “whereby damage was caused to another vehicle, namely an orange BMW Mini” at the same time and location.
Cllr O’Byrne pleaded guilty on August 3 and was last week fined for the offences.
Cllr Kemp also drew parallels with previous deputy mayor Paul Brant, who resigned from the role and as a councillor following a police caution for drugs.
He has since re-joined the council after standing for election in Fazakerley last May.
Cllr O’Byrne was appointed to be crime commissioner Jane Kennedy’s deputy in May 2014 but stepped down a year later to become deputy mayor of Liverpool.
Cllr Kemp said: “It’s a matter for her conscience. But Paul Brant did not go to court, he received a caution and still stood down. He stood down for a much lesser reason.
“The fact that this case reached court rather than being dealt with in another way – she should stand down for a period of reflection.”
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/