Lib Dem Told Barman to 'Go Back to Your Own Country'

A Liberal Democrat councillor called a barman a ‘migrant’ and told him to go back to his own country in a drunken altercation at Charing Cross station.

Cllr Stephen Fenwick pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault, and was given a fine and a year-long conditional discharge. The incident happened at the Bonapartes pub in Charing Cross station, Central London, on 4 January. He had been out watching football and had been drinking heavily before the incident.

Cllr Fenwick, who represents Worcester Park ward in the London Borough of Sutton, has since resigned the Liberal Democrat whip and now sits as an independent.

According to the Surrey Comet, the leader of the Liberal Democrat-controlled council, Ruth Dombey, said: “Any form of racial intolerance or abuse is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. I have accepted his resignation.”

Cllr Fenwick had been due to stand for re-election as a Liberal Democrat councillor later this year. It is unclear whether he will still stand.