Cheshire East councillors on 'frightening abuse' ordeals

Two female councillors have spoken out about "frightening" abuse they have suffered including an assault and stalking.

Cheshire East councillors Kate Parkinson and Charlotte Leach said they wanted to encourage other victims to speak out before abuse "escalates".

Ms Parkinson, who was attacked by a man before the 2019 election, said the job could be "dangerous" at times.

And Ms Leach said she had been stalked, trolled and had obscene calls.

Ms Parkinson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she did not report her ordeal to police as she was "too embarrassed" at the time.

She said when visiting residents a man threatened her and then "grabbed me and screamed in my face because I was a Conservative".

She added: "He went ballistic... saying I'm a disgrace.

"He grabbed me and was yelling in my face."

He then ordered her to get off his property, the councillor for High Legh added.

Ms Parkinson said she went to the house next door "in complete shock" to continue campaigning then "burst into tears".

The neighbours took her in and told her they had seen what had happened.

She said when visiting residents "99.9% of the time everyone is great [but] it's that 0.1% who take it too far".

She added: "Suddenly you're in a position that could be dangerous."

Mobberley councillor Ms Leach said she has had to get the police involved twice - once when she was being stalked on train journeys by someone "fixated on me" prior to the first lockdown in March 2020.

She said it was "quite frightening" and praised British Transport Police (BTP) for taking it "more seriously than I expected".

She said she had also been targeted with a sexually explicit phone call a few weeks ago and the perpetrator had been found.

"If this sort of behaviour isn't tackled and we don't speak about it, as embarrassing as it can be, it could ultimately embolden people to escalate their behaviour," the Conservative councillor said.

She said she had also been subjected to a series of abusive messages on social media.

BTP has been contacted for a comment while Cheshire Police said it had now established the obscene call came from Leicestershire and the force had passed it on to Leicestershire Police for further investigation.

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