Tories demand to know how criminally neglectful mum was allowed to remain as a councillor in Milton Keynes

Labour councillor for Woughton and Fishermead ward, Shammi Akter, was given a suspended prison sentence last Thursday after pleading guilty to neglecting/assaulting/ill-treating/abandoning a child to cause unnecessary suffering or injury.

The court heard how the single mum left her little boy for four hours in her untidy house that smelled of urine and had what appeared to be a faeces stain on the carpet. The offence happened on September 6 2019 - 17 months ago. You can read the Citizen story here.

The boy's father told the court: "I really feel for my son and I do not know what else Ms Akter is capable of...I have no idea where her moral boundaries lie."

Ms Akter, a single mum, pleaded guilty to the charge in November when she was committed to Aylesbury Crown Court for sentence. The court heard the child has remained living with her in the meantime.

She was "administratively suspended" from the Labour Party after she was charged last summer but still continued to serve as a councillor in Milton Keynes.

Today a spokesman for the local Conservative group on the council said: “Councillors play a vitally important role as corporate parents for all Milton Keynes children. A corporate parent has special responsibilities to care for children and young people and it is one of the most important legal roles a councillor has.

"We are therefore extremely concerned that the leader of the council allowed one of his Labour councillors, who had pleaded guilty in November to child neglect and child abuse, continue to serve the city, within his group for three months."

The spokesman added: "It shows a serious failure in judgement and has brought the council into disrepute. We have asked Councillor Marland for an urgent explanation as to why he took no action until the matter was made public last week.”

Council leader Pete Marland said today he had not been aware of the full facts of the councillor's case until last week's hearing.

He said: “Shammi Akter was suspended from the Labour Group and Labour Party as soon as she was charged with an offence in August 2020. Based on legal advice this was the strongest action that could be taken before the case concluded, as everyone is allowed due process.

"The full details of the case were not known until the case concluded last week. At that point we immediately expelled Shammi from the Labour Group and Labour Party.

"It isn’t possible for a political party to remove an elected councillor from office, only a councillor can choose to resign their position. At the conclusion of the criminal trial and when the full details emerged I advised Shammi to resign from her elected role, and she did.”