Sandwell councillor suspended by Labour after alleged assault on blogger

A Labour source said that Councillor Steve Melia has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party, pending investigation.

It is unclear when this decision took place.

It comes after Councillor Melia, who is aged in his 70s and represents Great Barr with Yew Tree, knocked a phone out of the hands of a blogger and protester who was filming elected members entering a council building.

Julian Saunders, who blogs as Sandwell Skidder, was outside Oldbury Council House on Tuesday filming elected members ahead of a full council meeting when the incident happened.

Mr Saunders, 63, could be heard in the video saying to councillors: "Back to the future? More corruption? More cronyism? More incompetence?”

Councillor Melia then walked past, pointed a finger at Mr Saunders and knocked the phone from his hand in what has been described as assault.

A West Midlands Police spokesman confirmed the force was investigating but so far nobody has been arrested.

The incident took place on Sandwell Council's property.

A spokesman for the authority said: “We have been made aware of the matter and will be discussing the matter with the member in question.

“The council will consider any appropriate action in accordance with its Ethical Framework that governs elected member conduct.

“The council expects all members to abide by the standards set out in the Members’ code of conduct. The council supports freedom of expression and speech and the rights of the press to attend council meeting that are held in public.”