Town councillor slammed for ‘disgusting slur’ on young people

Downham Market town councillor Doug Lawson has been slammed for his comments about “teenage males” in response to a Downham Market Town Council Facebook post regarding damage to the Jubilee Community Centre Skate Park in the town.

The authority posted that they were “disappointed” to see the safety fencing around the skate park had been “pulled down,” after it was closed to the public for repairs following damage in August.

Responding to the post, Mr Lawson seemed to blame some youths.

He said: “We are talking here about a relatively small bunch of mostly teenage males with a low IQ trying to prove to their peers how macho they are to impress their non-existent girlfriends.

“Because they are of such low intellect they are unable to equate their stupidity with damage inflicted on others.

“Some of the previous security equipment was located incorrectly, permitting the little morons to use wheelie bins as climbing aids so that they could either point the equipment in another direction or damage and smash it.”

Fellow town councillor Jackie Westrop responded to his remarks and said: “I do not normally bother replying to your posts but this one is truly disgusting.

“It is disrespectful to young people.”

His initial comment appears to have been deleted from the post along with the responses to him, but Ms Westrop told this newspaper that her response about it being disgusting and disrespectful “still stands”.

She added: “I also noted that his remarks were discriminatory to those young people who struggle with their mental health.”

Mr Lawson has previously been criticised for his social media comments, with a member of the public calling for him to resign a few months ago after he used an expletive against them and another incident in which someone perceived him to use “vocabulary pertaining to learning disability to insult someone.”

Mr Lawson has been contacted for comment.