Police launch probe after Handforth Parish Council star Jackie Weaver received threatening email

Police have launched a probe after the Handforth Parish Council star Jackie Weaver received an email calling her a ‘fully fledged c***’ who should ‘not be let out of a burning building’. 

A seven-minute edited highlights package of council planning committee’s December meeting captured a multitude of chaos – including the moment acting-clerk Jackie, 63,  kicked out council chairman Brian Tolver after he told her she has ‘no authority at all’ and ordered her to ‘stop talking’.

But in the latest developments since the video went viral, Mrs Weaver, from Shropshire, told The Mirror that she has been subjected to online abuse. 

Jackie Weaver, 63, (pictured) says she has been subjected to online abuse since a seven-minute highlight video of a Handforth Parish Council meeting went viral

During the meeting Ms Weaver was accused of having 'no authority here' and subsequently removed Brian Tolver from the meeting

During the meeting Ms Weaver was accused of having ‘no authority here’ and subsequently removed Brian Tolver from the meeting

The council planning committee's December meeting captured a multitude of chaos which saw council chairman Brian Tolver  (pictured) order Jackie to 'stop talking'

The council planning committee’s December meeting captured a multitude of chaos which saw council chairman Brian Tolver  (pictured) order Jackie to ‘stop talking’

Cheshire Police are now said to be looking into the abusive messages, described as ‘malicious communications’.  

The message, which Ms Weaver says was sent to her the day after the explosive video went viral, reportedly called her a ‘disgrace’, a ‘fully fledged c***’ and said she should ‘not be let out of a burning building’.  

Speaking about the abuse, she said: ‘I definitely didn’t take it as a death threat. But they copied my colleagues in and, without referring it to me, my colleague referred it to the police.

‘Don’t get me wrong – I wasn’t unhappy with what they did. But I wouldn’t have done it that way. I don’t think they would have done anything.’

Cheshire Police has been approached for comment. 

Ms Weaver became a viral hit, which has seen her get verified on Twitter, after a clip of the fiery parish council meeting was shared online. 

Abusive emails sent to Jackie (pictured) and her colleagues have since been referred to the police and Cheshire officers have launched a probe into the messages

Abusive emails sent to Jackie (pictured) and her colleagues have since been referred to the police and Cheshire officers have launched a probe into the messages 

Factions of the council backing Mr Tolver claimed she had no right to kick the chairman out of the Zoom meeting. 

But Jackie – who chairs the Cheshire Association of Local Councillors – has since insisted she did because the meeting was not called by the chairman nor the council’s official clerk.

Her action has gained her wide-spread support, with Jackie’s husband Stuart Weaver, 69 – a retired design engineer – telling MailOnline that he’s ‘proud’ of his wife for standing up to them.

Jackie – who has worked with Handforth Parish Council on and off for nine years – says the hostility from Mr Tolver’s faction of councillors was hardly a surprise.

Councillors Cynthia Samson, John Smith and Susan Moore – who can all be seen in the zoom – asked Jackie to act as clerk in the meeting because the council’s formal clerk had been suspended by Mr Tolver.

Jackie said she ‘thought something might kick off’ so took on the role herself – rather than pass it onto someone more junior.

In a normal parish council meeting, Jackie wouldn’t have the authority to remove someone, but because it was called by two coucillors – who risked having the hearing ‘hijacked’ – she says she did.

Cheshire Police are now said to be looking into the abusive messages, described as 'malicious communications'. Pictured: Jackie

Cheshire Police are now said to be looking into the abusive messages, described as ‘malicious communications’. Pictured: Jackie 

The small town of Handforth in Cheshire, close to Manchester Airport, is known for its gigantic M&S and its quiet suburban streets - but many residents now know that its parish council is split by infighting and a battle for power

The small town of Handforth in Cheshire, close to Manchester Airport, is known for its gigantic M&S and its quiet suburban streets – but many residents now know that its parish council is split by infighting and a battle for power

Jackie earlier admitted that ‘there is an element of bullying and bad behaviour around in local councils’ – with councillor Peter Moore, 70, one of those on the Zoom call, describing Handforth Parish Council as a ‘den of bullying’.

Jackie told MailOnline: ‘I had the authority to kick them of the call. They shout all the statements about it being illegal but I’ve been doing this for 25 years.

‘If it had been a normal parish meeting I wouldn’t have had the authority to do that.

‘But it was not called by the clerk, it was not called by the chairman, it was called by two councillors, and, therefore, when someone disrupted that meeting I felt perfectly justified in kicking them out.’ 

The row started several months ago between two warring camps within the parish council with four on one side and three on the other.

One councillor, Jean Thompson, was dismissed as she did not attend meetings for six months.

It left the council split, with three councillors on each side: chairman Mr Tolver, Aled Brewerton and Barry Burkhill versus Mr Smith, Ms Samson and Ms Moore.

Mr Tolver was thrown out of the pre-Christmas hearing – the second meeting in a row – after he accused rival councillors of calling it illegally and yelling: ‘You have no authority here, Jackie Weaver! NO AUTHORITY AT ALL!’ and repeatedly telling her to ‘stop talking’.

Jackie, acting as the clerk, then kicked him off Zoom for being ‘disruptive’. She was not in charge of the previous meeting when Mr Tolver was kicked out.

In response, Mr Tolver’s ally Councillor Mr Brewerton is shown angrily shouting at Ms Weaver when she tries to elect a new chairman: ‘No they can’t because the vice chair is here! I take charge! Read the standing orders. Read them and understand them!’. 

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