Richard Leese resigns (temporarily) after assaulting teenage stepdaughter

Article published: Wednesday, April 14th 2010

The leader of Manchester City Council, Sir Richard Leese, stepped down today after it emerged he had been cautioned for assault on his 16-year-old stepdaughter. The City Council and Manchester Labour, however, insist the incident is just a “private matter” and say his resignation is only temporary.

The Labour councillor, who has been leader of the City Council since 1996 and was knighted for ‘services to local government’ in 2006, was arrested on Monday evening at his home in Crumpsall. It is understood Leese struck his stepdaughter during an argument at the family home. Police were called to the house and said she had sustained minor injuries to her ear.

After being questioned on Tuesday, Leese accepted a caution for assault and was released at around 7pm, having spent 20 hours in Pendleton police station in Salford. His acceptance of the caution amounts to an admission of guilt, but with no further legal action pending.

Leese announced he would be stepping down with immediate effect this morning. In a statement he said:

“I’ve asked the Labour group and party to allow me a necessary period of time out, as long as is needed, to resolve serious family issues.

“This request has been agreed and the deputy leaders [Jim Battle and Val Stevens] will be taking on my responsibilities. My wife Joanne and I and our family would appreciate it if we could be left in peace during this period.”

Amid a mixed response on the Manchester Evening News website, one observer from Wythenshawe remarked:

“I heard that he has stepped down to sort out his problems or as I see it to hide out of public view like many a bullying coward before him. The best thing for him to do is to resign and do it quickly.”

This comment, however, was far from typical. Manchester Confidential went as far as to say:

“[W]e want him back leading the city.

“Of course we are not condoning assault in any way.

“But what we are certain of is that Sir Richard Leese carries political weight throughout the country, he is the most important city leader outside London by a factor of ten, he is a visionary in terms of how he sees the city and how he leads the city.”

It seems this view is shared by the Manchester Labour Party. Having accepted his temporary resignation, group secretary and local councillor Pat Kearney said: “[T]his was a private family matter which the family now consider closed.”

The Council is taking a similar line, with a spokesperson saying: “We consider this a private matter which we leave up to Richard to deal with his family.”

Three years ago, Sir Richard launched a campaign against domestic abuse in Manchester, saying: “Violence in the home will not be tolerated.” One in every four women in Manchester is a victim of domestic abuse in their lifetimes, and police in the UK receive a domestic violence call every minute.

Despite the fact that Leese’s caution is for a relatively minor first-time offence concerns are already being raised that the Council’s response in this instance is inadequate and counterproductive in seriously addressing the issue.

“The Council had an opportunity here to make a strong statement about domestic abuse, and instead gave the archaic response that it was a ‘private matter’. The Council should be doing all it can to say no to violence against women, including condemning its own leaders,” said Hazel Kent, the University of Manchester’s Women’s Officer.

Manchester Confidential says it understands there will be a re-assessment of the decision in June after the elections. MULE will continue to monitor the story as it unfolds.

Andy Lockhart

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Comments

1. […] the original post: Richard Leese resigns (temporarily) after assaulting teenage … By admin | category: University of MANCHESTER | tags: hazel, metropolitan, moral, […]

   Pingback by Richard Leese resigns (temporarily) after assaulting teenage … state university on April 15, 2010 at 12:22 am

2. As someone who has witnessed the awful effects of domestic abuse in my family, I find this article pretty sickening. There’s no comparison between a parent slapping their child to a perpetrator of domestic violence. Anyone not trying to score a cheap point recognises this distinction. It cheapens victims and trivialises the subject. I can excuse the student who is the only person you could find to comment – she’s a kid who hasn’t grown up yet. But even for your standards, Manchester Mule, this is pretty low.

   Comment by someone who lives in the real world on April 15, 2010 at 4:42 pm

3. They’re not accusing Leese of serial domestic abuse which is obviously something far worse. But he has admitted to assaulting his sixteen year old stepdaughter, who was scared or upset enough to call the police in the first place.
   It’s not trivialising victims. What the council have done is to justify the thoughts of those who said ‘good on him, she probably needed a bit of discipline’, and there are a lot of them.
   They could easily have condemned this particular action, and taken the opportunity to highlight a far worse and more widespread problem. Instead they say it doesn’t matter this time, basically because they know him and say he’s alright really. Then what moral authority do they have over the issue serious long term domestic abuse, when they can’t even say their own leader did something wrong?

   Comment by Ah the real world... on April 16, 2010 at 5:52 pm

4. ‘From the real World’ if in fact you have experienced domestic violence one would think you would understand and appreciate more than anyone else that ALL violence should be condemned and especially towards a child. I am not going to go into the politics or the irony of the situation as the writer has already articulated this far better, please read the article.

   What I would say is, this is not a question of who suffers the most and giving one more importance than the other. As someone who has suffered domestic violence as a child and an adult I find it highly offensive that ‘you’ would use domestic violence to trivialise violence against children. I condemn and have zero tolerance for violence against anyone and especially towards children, who are the most vulnerable and helpless in such crimes. I live with the effects and scars of violence and I can assure you I wouldn’t think twice of taking a beating if it meant a child was spared a slap. For I know too well the lasting scars these slaps leave.

   ‘From the real World’ I suggest you actually come into the real world and realise the issue you use to have your shoddy dig at Mule affects real people, and we find that line of argument highly insulting. If you must have your digs please find an alterative line of argument.

   Comment by ...aaaah!! More of the real world on April 18, 2010 at 3:49 am

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