Green councillor charged with assaulting three police officers

A Green Party councillor has been charged with assaulting five people including three police officers.

Siobhan Harper-Nunes, a councillor for Birmingham city council, was arrested on suspicion of assault on Thursday after West Midlands Police were called following reports of disorder in the Edgbaston area of the city.

The 66-year-old, who has represented the Ladywood ward since May, was charged on Friday with assaulting three police officers, a member of police staff and a member of the public.

The party said it had suspended Ms Harper-Nunes as a councillor with immediate effect pending an investigation.

In a statement on Friday, West Midlands Police said: “We were called to disorder near the junction of Monument Road and Hagley Road at around 5pm yesterday (Aug 6). A woman was arrested on suspicion of assault.

“This afternoon, Siobhan Harper-Nunes, aged 66, of Monument Road, was charged with assaulting a member of the public, three police officers and a member of police staff.”

‘Experienced political campaigner’

Ms Harper-Nunes stood as the Green Party candidate for the West Midlands mayoral election in 2024.

She also previously stood in the Gravelly Hill ward for the May 2022 Birmingham City Council elections and was the Green Party candidate for the 2022 Erdington constituency parliamentary by-election.

Ms Harper-Nunes has insisted that she does not describe herself as a career politician but rather an experienced political campaigner.

She has been bailed and is set to appear before Birmingham magistrates’ court on Sept 10.

Ms Harper-Nunes was vice-chair of Birmingham Race Impact group and committed to using her position to educate and change attitudes.

In 2024, she told the BBC that politicians should lead by example and not promote hatred.

She said that there should be “no room in politics for the ugly Islamophobia and antisemitism that we have seen recently”.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]