Marske councillor warned over behaviour after Facebook image row

Councillor Kendra Evans superimposed a picture of Councillor Dr Tristan Learoyd into a photograph of an ‘artisan makers’ market event she was promoting taking place in Marske – the area both represent – posting it on Facebook.

The latter’s face, meanwhile, had been obscured with an ‘angry face’ emoji.

Cllr Learoyd lodged a complaint with Redcar and Cleveland Council over the matter which instigated code of conduct procedures.

Council monitoring officer Steve Newton said a local resident had commented on the post and it “seemed reasonable to conclude that they had recognised the complainant from the image”.

The resident responded with a series of laughing emojis.

Mr Newton said the image was publicly accessible and posted from a Facebook account which identified the member in question as a councillor. 

Marske councillor Dr Tristan Learoyd.Picture/credit: UGC. Free for use for all LDRS partners.

While neither councillor was named in a published decision report – as per the council’s usual anonymised approach – the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) was able to identify the pair, who both represent the St Germain’s ward, from enquiries made.

Mr Newton said: “Whilst the image, in isolation, would not amount to harassment, on balance, a likely interpretation of this situation by a reasonable member of the public would be that the imagery was intended to be personally mocking or derogatory.”

He said it was agreed that the appropriate course of action was that advice would be issued as to future conduct.

He added: “On balance, there may technically have been a breach of the obligation of respect but, if there was any breach, then this would be at the very lowest end of the scale in terms of seriousness and, therefore, a formal investigation would be disproportionate. 

“However, further instances of a similar nature could indicate a course of conduct and result in a different outcome.”

It was also considered appropriate to recommend that the edited image should be removed and/or replaced online.

The decision report, shared with members of the council’s governance committee, said there was a “history of issues between the two parties”.

The complainant – Cllr Learoyd – claimed he and his family had been harassed by Cllr Evans, while the latter “indicated that the complainant was pursuing vexatious complaints”.

Both councillors were elected in 2023 as Liberal Democrats, but Cllr Evans quit the local group last year citing a conflict with her work and now sits as an independent in the council chamber.

She declined to comment after being approached by the LDRS.

Cllr Learoyd also quit the local group in the summer of 2024 after criticising a previous decision to suspend him temporarily, and labelled his treatment as a “farce”.

He also now represents Marske as an independent.

Cllr Evans previously criticised Cllr Learoyd on Facebook after he described how other councillors in the ward would not speak to him in respect of local matters he was seeking improvements or campaigning on.

In a post Cllr Evans claimed Cllr Learoyd was refusing to deal with her after blaming her for his suspension from the Lib Dem group and there was “no requirement for him to become involved with things that are already being dealt with”.