A COLWYN Bay councillor who shared a fake social media post featuring a far-right mass murderer holding up a meal deal poster has been cautioned.

Tom Maclean, who represents the Glyn ward, posted an edited image of Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik holding an advert for a £1 Asda meal deal in November 2022.

The photo of Breivik was from his trial for two domestic terror attacks in Norway in 2011, which claimed the lives of 77 people, including members on a Workers' Youth League (AUF) summer camp getaway.

North Wales Pioneer: The social media post Mr Maclean uploaded last year.The social media post Mr Maclean uploaded last year. (Image: Newsquest)

He was found guilty of mass murder, causing a fatal explosion, and terrorism and given a 21-year prison sentence.

Mr Maclean deleted the post soon after amid public backlash, and in a now-deleted apology, said at the time that the post “featured a person I have since been told is a pretty ghastly figure.”

A complaint was made about Mr Maclean to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, Michelle Morris, who concluded his actions were "wholly inappropriate" but were unintentional.

In a summary of her investigation, Ms Morris said a potential breach of the code of conduct had been considered.

Ms Morris added: “The Member [Maclean] had apologised for any offence caused and removed the post immediately claiming that he did not know who the person was in the picture and it had been an erroneous use of clipart and a genuine mistake. The complainant provided no further information.

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“The Ombudsman considered that suggesting a link between the mass murderer and the meal deal would be an egregious parallel to have been made.

“However, the Member claimed that the link was unintentional and although the Ombudsman considered the Member’s explanation for how the post was made lacked credibility, no evidence was provided to the contrary.

“The post was wholly inappropriate.

“However, given the lack of engagement from the complainant, the remorse expressed by the Member, the challenge of disproving his explanation, his co-operation with the investigation, and the immediate removal of the post, it was decided that further investigation would not be in the public interest.

“The Member was warned to take care when making public posts in future and the investigation was discontinued.”