Labour councillor under investigation over pictures of him in an Adolf Hitler costume for children’s hospice fancy dress fundraiser
- Seve Gomez-Aspron, 33, is a member of St Helens Council in Merseyside
- He dressed as the Nazi leader for a Claire House Hospice fundraiser in 2009
- Mr Gomez-Aspron said outfit, which he wore in his 20s, was a clumsy decision
Labour has launched an inquiry into a councillor pictured at a fundraiser dressed as Adolf Hitler.
Photographs of Seve Gomez-Aspron show him wearing a German Army uniform, complete with swastika, and a fake moustache.
They were taken at a fancy dress dinner in aid of Claire House Hospice, which supports seriously and terminally ill children, in 2009 – around three years before he was elected to St Helens Council in Merseyside.
Mr Gomez-Aspron, 33, who represents the Newton-le-Willows ward, said the outfit was inspired by Mel Brooks’ satirical comedy The Producers. He described the decision to wear it as ‘clumsy’.
The pictures of Seve Gomez-Aspron, a member of St Helens Council, Merseyside, show him dressed in a German Army uniform with a swastika and wearing a fake moustache at a fancy dress fundraiser for Claire House Hospice in 2009
The pictures were taken when the councillor, now 33, was in his 20s and he has now apologised
The councillor told the Liverpool Echo the photos were taken in his early twenties, before he was a Labour Party member, adding: ‘I have matured and learnt a lot since then, and it goes without saying that I would not do this now.
‘I know how this could be seen as insensitive and how it could cause hurt and offence.
‘That was not at all my intention and I sincerely apologise.
‘I have part-Jewish ancestry and I recently visited Israel to commemorate those killed in the Holocaust and the war.’
Labour confirmed it had launched an inquiry but said it was unable to comment on individual cases due to data protection issues.
The scandal is not Mr Gomez-Aspron’s first.
Earlier this month, Merseyside Police confirmed they had received a complaint about a tweet he posted referring to the ‘Aryan race’.
Officers concluded no offence had been committed.
In December 2017, he was censured by the council’s standards committee after insinuating residents were ‘halfwits’ on Facebook.
Pictured: St Claire House Children’s Hospice in Clatterbridge