ByMarcus Dysch, Marcus Dysch
A councillor who dressed as a Nazi officer at a fancy dress party and claimed it was evidence of his “great sense of humour” has been suspended by his party.
Sean Aspey, a member of Porthcawl Council in South Wales, near Bridgend, is now the subject of a local Liberal Democrat party inquiry.
Pictures of Mr Aspey wearing the stormtrooper outfit were brought to the attention of fellow councillors last week.
Mr Aspey wore the costume for his 40th birthday party in March last year. The party’s theme was the BBC comedy series ‘Allo ‘Allo and it was held two months before he was elected as a councillor.
He was unavailable for comment when contacted by the JC, but played down the incident in his local newspaper, the Glamorgan Gazette.
“I have rather a great sense of humour. I tend to see things in a funny light,” he said.
“I’d like people to think, ‘he’s a tidy bloke’. I was not wandering around in Nazi uniform. I could understand it causing offence if I had gone up and down Porthcawl promenade, but it was a private party.”
His page on Facebook, the social networking site, also showed links to sites making jokes about serial killers Fred West and Harold Shipman, sparking further outrage and leading colleagues to claim he had brought the council into disrepute and should resign.