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A disgraced Tory councillor looks set to avoid the axe from his party after being found to have racially abused a shop owner.

Cllr Jaswant Singh Birdi, who represents Bablake, was shown to have made “racially abusive” comments towards a Sri Lankan shopkeeper by Coventry City Council’s Ethics Committee.

Two independent reports also found that he had breached the council’s Code of Conduct. After the Ethics Committee hearing on March 17 , he was formally censured by the council and instructed to undergo “suitable training”.

Council bosses do not have the power to force Cllr Birdi to resign , but the Ethics Committee did recommend that he be removed from his position as shadow member for policing and equalities.

That decision, and any further punishment, can only be made be at the discretion of the Conservative Party - although only Cllr Birdi can decide whether to stay on as a councillor.

What did the Conservative Party say?

More than a week since the Ethics Committee announced its findings, the Tories had made no formal announcement over Cllr Birdi’s fate.

However, when challenged by the Telegraph today, Coventry’s Conservative leader Cllr John Blundell confirmed Cllr Birdi had stepped down from his shadow cabinet position.

He said: “I can confirm that Cllr Birdi has stood down from his position as shadow cabinet for policing and equalities and been replaced by Cllr Michael Hammon.

“At this moment I am still waiting for an official written decision from the ethics committee before any further communications.”

The Telegraph understands that Cllr Birdi has also been removed from the position of honorary president of the local Conservative Association.

Local Tory discontent

Sources within the Conservative Party in Coventry have told this newspaper that some Tory colleagues are furious that Cllr Birdi is set to escape further punishment for his behaviour.

Privately, there is division in the group over the way Cllr Birdi’s situation has been dealt with - particularly as it is the second racism row involving a Conservative councillor in Coventry in just months.

Last year, Cllr Glenn Williams, who also represents Bablake, was forced to quit the party after he was found to have made xenophobic comments in a private conversation. Despite pressure from Labour councillors to vacate his seat, including an extraordinary council meeting being called to demand his resignation, Cllr Williams continues to serve as an independent.

A Conservative Party source, who did not want to be named, told the Telegraph: “What Jaswant has done is absolutely worse than what Glenn did.

“He (Cllr Birdi) should have been suspended from the party. The way the situation has been handled smacks of weak leadership.

“I think we do have a problem in the party locally.”

But local Tory leader Cllr Blundell dismissed those concerns.

He said: “I understand the national party consider this a local matter.

“I would also say that ‘some of my colleagues’ are very much in the minority and I have the full backing of both group and association officers.”

What was heard at the ethics committee?

An ethics committee hearing was called following a dispute about litter outside Nagarajah Kuruparan’s shop in Harnall Lane East, Hillfields, on January 4, 2016.

It was reported the dispute began after Cllr Birdi went into Mr Kuruparan’s shop to complain about litter on the opposite side of the road which he believed came from the Quickshop’s bins.

In an interview with the council’s investigating officer, Mr Kuruparan said that during the confrontation Cllr Birdi “became “aggressive” shouting in a loud voice; “You bloody Sri Lankan, you asking me to get out. How the hell you bloody Sri Lankan’s got into the country?”

Mr Kuruparan said he became upset and angry by this and responded by saying: “You may have come by boat but I came by aeroplane”.

Cllr Birdi also told Mr Kuruparan that he would close the shop down.

Police were called to attend the scene and subsequently a complaint against Cllr Birdi was made to the council’s governance officer two weeks later.

The ethics committee was due to sit on the matter last year, however it was postponed due to the death of the original investigator Jeremy Thomas.

Matt Lewin was hired to conduct a second independent investigation.

He found that there was “a remarkable and puzzling conflict between the accounts given by Mr Kuruparan and Cllr Birdi of the words allegedly used by the other party.

“On balance, having carefully considered the evidence as a whole, I conclude that Mr Kuruparan’s is the more likely account.”

He concluded that the allegation of Cllr Birdi being “aggressive and abusive, specifically racially abusive” was well-founded.

He also concluded that Cllr Birdi breached the code by threatening to close down Mr Kuruparan’s premises.

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