Deputy Lewis ‘disappointed’ by PPC ruling that he broke Code of Conduct

The St Helier Deputy appeared before the Privileges and Procedures Committee in a public hearing this week, after the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry’s report concluded that he lied to the States, as well as to the panel itself, about the suspension of former police chief Graham Power in 2008.

Following the hearing, PPC, which monitors the conduct of States Members, delivered its verdict on Wednesday that Deputy Lewis breached the States Code of Conduct due to his actions.

The committee is expected to publish a public report within the next few weeks recommending to the States Assembly what course of action should now be taken, which could include suspending the Deputy.

But in a statement, Deputy Lewis says that he has still not been informed of how he had breached the code.

‘I am disappointed in the findings announced by PPC that I broke the Code of Conduct for Elected Members on matters that date back to 2008,’ he says.

‘I have not been advised of any detail as to why the PPC have adjudicated in this way. I have no option open to me but to await the publication of the PPC report, which will be in several weeks’ time. Until such time I am unable to comment further.’

Deputy Lewis was found by the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry to have falsely claimed during a States sitting that he saw a Metropolitan Police report justifying Mr Power’s suspension, which he ordered while he was Home Affairs Minister.

He had in fact only seen extracts of the report in a letter from acting police chief David Warcup.

Deputy Lewis maintains that he did not lie and merely used poor wording, but during the PPC hearing he admitted that some Members may have been ‘misled’ by his remarks.

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