A TRURO city councillor has been censured after twice refusing to apologise to a fellow councillor for calling him homophobic and a bully on Facebook. Cllr Sam Rabey has received a slap on the wrist and will be urged not to do it again.

Parish and town councils have limited powers when it comes to disciplining councillors. They can only issue censures, meaning strongly-worded disapproval of a member’s behaviour is recorded in public minutes of meetings.

Following previous concerns about councillors in her Truro and Falmouth constituency, Labour MP Jayne Kirkham called on Parliament last month to agree to more robust measures to tackle “egregious behaviour” by councillors. She has asked the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to review the sanctions on standards.

On June 18, Cllr Rabey – Independent member for Moresk & Trehaverne ward on Truro City Council – was found to have breached the council code of conduct following an investigation by Cornwall Council legal officer Simon Mansell. He was given 28 days from the date of the notice to apologise to Cllr Rob Nolan, the Liberal Democrat member for Boscawen & Redannick ward, who was elected chair of Cornwall Council last month.

A spokesperson for Truro City Council told us Cllr Rabey refused to apologise to his colleague. He was given another opportunity at a meeting of the council on Monday but again declined to apologise. Councillors then voted in favour of censuring Cllr Rabey.

The complaint related to comments made on Facebook by Cllr Rabey accusing Cllr Nolan of bullying and homophobia. The code of conduct breach notice stated: “The subject member [Cllr Rabey] is challenged over this on the basis that he has no evidence, to which the subject member then tries to link his accusation to recent press stories about him before being told by a third party, ‘you are on rocky territory’.”

No specific response was received by Cllr Rabey, who was elected unopposed to the council. However, in an exchange of emails when the complaint was initially processed, he also accused officers in legal services of being homophobic. Asked for a response to the conduct breach, he replied: “No comment.”

Cllr Nolan told us: “I was surprised to read Sam Rabey’s accusations on Facebook. I’m neither a bully nor homophobic. The only times I have spoken to Sam have been exchanging polite chit-chat going in and out of council meetings. But I gather he also accused the legal team at County Hall that were investigating him of being homophobic. So these are accusations that he carelessly throws around, not caring how upsetting they are to people he accuses.”

In May, Cllr Rabey, then deputy mayor of Truro, was banned by the Diocese of Truro from the city’s cathedral and its grounds due to safeguarding concerns. A briefing given to staff and volunteers was “being shared under safeguarding with the intention of managing and reducing risk of harm”. No details of the specific reasons for the diocese’s concerns were revealed.

The following week, Cllr Rabey was not elected as mayor or re-elected as deputy mayor.