Liverpool Labour councillor sentenced for verbal abuse of teenage girl

A Liverpool Labour councillor for Wavertree has been fined for verbally abusing a teenage girl who was delivering leaflets for a rival political party.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said that Cllr David Cummings, 57, abused the girl when she was delivering leaflets for the Liberal Democrats in Wimbledon Street, Wavertree, on May 3, 2021.

The girl was delivering them with her father and posted one into the letterbox of the house where Cllr Cummings lives. He saw the leaflet, which made reference to previous conduct by him.

He ran out of his house and confronted the girl, who was 14 at the time. He was verbally abusive to her, swore at her and told her to get rid of the leaflets.

The girl was really shaken up by the exchange and told her father who was delivering leaflets on the other side of the street. He reported the incident to the police.

Mr Cummings was charged with the offence of using threatening words likely to cause harassment or distress. He pleaded not guilty but was convicted at Sefton Magistrates’ Court on 22 April 2022, following a trial.

He was fined £96, ordered to pay £600 costs and a £34 victim surcharge.

Senior Crown Prosecutor Ian Sheridan, of CPS Mersey Cheshire, said: “This was a verbal assault on a young girl for no reason. The information in the leaflet was already in the public domain.

“Whatever his feelings about the information being aired again, he had no right to threaten the victim in this way. His behaviour veered into criminality and he has been found guilty of the offence he was charged with.

“The role of a councillor is a position of trust and Mr Cummings has a public role which demands decent behaviour. He has betrayed the trust of the people who voted for him and their expectations of their local representative.”

Cllr Cummings told LiverpoolWorld: “I am applying for an appeal, after that process I am more than happy to respond, until then you will have no further comment from me.”