A complaint has been made to a Co Antrim council claiming that its chief executive may have breached the ‘code of conduct for local government employees’.
It came after the Irish News revealed that the chief executive of Mid and East Antrim Council, Anne Donaghy sent an email to elected representatives asking them not to speak to the media after court claims that she and two siblings put pressure on their father to sign over property. The email, which has been seen by the Irish News, said the allegations are “untrue”.
The complaint has been made by anti-drilling campaign group Stop the Drill yesterday.
A council spokesman last night confirmed that two complaints have been received.
“These will be processed in line with normal council policy,” he said.
In a separate development the BBC said it is treating seriously an allegation that a person connected to the council falsely claimed to be a BBC reporter.
“We take any misuse of the BBC name and brand seriously and deal with such matters as appropriate on a case by case basis,” a spokesman said.
The council has strongly denied that any member of staff tried to obtain details of the court case from a freelance court reporter by claiming to be a BBC journalist.
The incident is alleged to have taken place hours before the Irish News revealed that Ms Donaghy and her siblings were accused in court of confronting their father.
The allegations against Ms Donaghy and her siblings emerged during a trial where her father John Fee was giving evidence against his son-in-law James Anthony McBride (52), of Ballybeg Road, Coalisland, Co Tyrone, who was found guilty of assaulting and threatening to “put a bullet behind his ear”.
