December 2011

Shock as an ex-councillor jailed

A FORMER councillor was jailed for three years for indecently assaulting a girl more than 14 years ago.

David Woodfinden, 70, of Lon Ely, Llanfairtalhaiarn, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday. He had pleaded guilty on November 22 to four indecent assaults on the same girl aged under 16 in between 1993-97.

He was sentenced on Friday to three years jail on each count – to run concurrently. Residents in the Conwy village where he lives have reacted with shock at news of the crime. Woodfinden was a LlanfairTH community councillor, a church warden and a community centre treasurer.

A council spokesman said Woodfinden resigned his council seat in October triggering a by-election. The spokesman said: “We are shocked at what’s happened. He was a hard working councillor, a St Mary’s Church warden and a community centre treasurer. He performed his duties very efficiently and was very active in the church.”

Woodfinden has lived in the village for about 12 years and the offences are understood to have taken place out of the area. If he had resigned after November 3 there would have been no need for an election until Wales-wide council elections next May. But because it was in October there was a poll. His seat was duly won last month by Dr Ahmed Jamil.