David Hathaway was banned after an assault on a traffic warden

David Hathaway was banned by a tribunal of the Adjudication Panel - the watchdog on local authority ethics.

The panel heard that Mr Hathaway assaulted a traffic warden in May last year.

He also swore and used abusive language to the manager of Cullompton town hall market in Devon on the same day.

Hathaway, a member of Mid Devon District Council and a member of Cullompton Town Council, said the decision was a "scandalous adjudication".

Mid Devon Council called for the tribunal to ban him because it said the assault meant Hathaway had failed to comply with the councillor's code of conduct, which orders members not to behave in a manner which could bring his office or authority into disrepute.

The punishment does not fit the crime David Hathaway

The tribunal, which sat in Exeter, concluded Hathaway had breached this provision by assaulting the traffic warden.

"This judgment is the first in the country to result in the disqualification of a district councillor," said Mid Devon's director of corporate services, Jan Shadbolt.

Ms Shadbolt said Hathaway was a member of Cullompton town council when the assault took place.

He was elected to Mid Devon council in May this year.

She said some key general principles of the code of conduct included personal judgment, respect for others and a duty to uphold the law.

"Clearly, in this case, the tribunal felt that all three had been breached and has taken a very firm view of the situation," she said.

Hathaway said it was a "very nasty" decision.

"The punishment does not fit the crime," he said.

"I do not think I should have been disqualified."

He said the year's disqualification by the Adjudication Panel for England in reality meant that he would not be able to stand for the district council until the next election in three and a half year's time.

Mr Hathaway appeared before magistrates in June last year and pleaded guilty to a common assault charge.

He was given a six-month conditional discharge, and ordered to pay �50 compensation and �55 prosecution costs.