THE COUNCILLOR with special responsibility to children who advocated caning them as means of instilling discipline has escaped sanction.

Back in February, Cllr John Griffiths, then vice-chairman of the children and families scrutiny committee, defended the use of corporal punishment to discipline children, sparking demands that he should resign.

A notice of motion to that effect was submitted by Labour Group leader Joyce Watson, but the motion was simply batted from council to committee and back again with no vote. And when it came back to full council last week, members decided not to consider it because the following day was the AGM when, it transpired, Cllr Griffiths was made vice-chairman of a different scrutiny committee.

Cllr Watson is fuming. She thinks Cllr Griffiths' comments make him unfit to be a councillor, but she is equally angry that the democratic process has apparently been abused to let him off scot-free.

"He should not be a councillor because he has shown a blatant disregard for the law to protect children, and John Davies is even worse for usurping the democratic process for getting rid of him," Cllr Watson told the Mercury.

"I went through the democratic process with my notice of motion. It was referred to cabinet, then referred back to full council, and then the leader of the council let him off the hook.

"I applaud the members of the Independent Group who had the nerve to speak out and vote against letting Cllr Griffiths off, but I'd like to ask John Davies if he feels comfortable with what he's done on behalf of the children of Pembrokeshire, because I don't."

During last week's meeting of full council, Cllr Griffiths said that he had been "saddened" by Cllr Watson's motion, which he felt was "merely an attempt to create a problem for the Independent Group."

He pointed out that he had never condoned the use of corporal punishment against children by teachers, and he quoted from a supportive letter he had received from Stephanie Lawrence herself.

"This is an attack on the right of free speech and the right of an independent individual to express his or her opinion," he said. He went on: "I do not condone the use of corporal punishment, in the older, traditional sense, in schools or the home but I'm sure most of us would agree, with what's happening in society today, there's a need for a balanced regime of discipline in the home and in schools."

The only member to speak in support of Cllr Griffiths was council leader John Davies. He felt Cllr Griffiths had now clarified his opinion and that the notice of motion should be put off until the following day, when changes to committee chairs are usually announced.

His proposal to that effect was carried, although some Independents did break ranks to make it a relatively close 28-22 affair.