Police attend St Helens Town Hall to issue senior councillor with warning notice
POLICE attended St Helens Town Hall this week to serve a senior St Helens councillor with an official notice that sets out an allegation of harassment against him.
The Star understands officers arrived at the building on Wednesday looking for the Newton ward councillor Seve Gomez-Aspron.
He was then issued with the Police Information Notice (PINs), which follows a complaint by a member of the public to police.
Such notices are sometimes called Harassment Warning Notices or Early Harassment Notices.
However, official guidance to parliament states that the notices themselves do not constitute any kind of formal legal action.
In a statement issued tonight Cllr Gomez-Aspron alleged the complainant has a "history of harassing both myself and my family in a personal capacity in no way related to the council".
He said he would be seeking legal advice.
Asked by the Star about the police presence at the town hall on Wednesday, a Merseyside Police spokesman replied: “Merseyside Police can confirm that a Police Information Notice was served upon a 31-year-old man from the St Helens area on Wednesday 10 May, 2017, following investigation of a complaint from a member of the public.”
A spokesman added that Police Information Notices are formal written notices given to people accused of causing alarm or distress.
Such notices contain an account of an allegation by the complainant and a warning that further incidents can result in arrest or prosecution, the force spokesman added.
The parliament.uk website states that being given a Police Information Notice does not mean acceptance of wrongdoing.
If a person is unhappy about the fact that the notice was issued, he or she could complain to the police force concerned.
In a statement, Councillor Gomez-Aspron said: "The complainant has significant history of harassing both myself and my family in a personal capacity in no way related to the council.
"The police have dealt with those issues and this individual before and I have asked the police to deal with the most recent abuse too.
"I appreciate that the police have a job to do and have dealt with this swiftly in the past.
"I have already sought legal advice and will pursue the matter accordingly.
"Cllr Seve Gomez-Aspron was handed the role of cabinet member for growth in this week's cabinet reshuffle.