A Hadleigh solicitor has referred himself to the Solicitors' Regulatory Authority after saying 'Babergh councillors should all be shot', immediately after a town council meeting, which was still being recorded.

Richard Hinton, a Hadleigh town councillor and solicitor with the Suffolk Law Centre, (SLC), made the comment during a conversation with fellow member James Bayliss and the town centre manager Cheryl Tye towards the end of a Zoom meeting. Mr Bayliss added he thought a couple of Hadleigh councillors should also be shot.

Although calls were made for the duo to resign, Hadleigh Town Council took no action, with the mayor Frank Minns refusing to condemn the comments and would not allow another councillor to speak out distancing himself from the remarks. Meanwhile, SLC have spoken with Mr Hinton about his comments.

"The Suffolk Law Centre (SLC) has been made aware of inappropriate comments attributed to Richard Hinton, one of its lawyers, made in his capacity as a Hadleigh Town Councillor," said an SLC spokesperson.

"In accordance with the correct procedure, Richard has referred himself to the Solicitors' Regulatory Authority. SLC will comply as needed with any resulting investigations."

Mr Hinton told Nub News later he 'regretted' his comments, which he described as 'a silly thing to say'.

The SRA have confirmed that Mr Hinton, who was admitted to the roll of solicitors of England and Wales on 15 July 2002 and holds a current practising certificate free from conditions, has had no Findings and Orders made by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) against Richard Hinton to date.

the SRA could not confirm when a tribunal, if any, will be heard by the DT.

Mr Hinton, who was elected in 2019 as a member of Hadleigh Together, has been approached for comment but has failed to respond.

Mr Bayliss, who also sought election under the Hadleigh Together banner, has not apologised for the comments he made regarding shooting councillors and has failed to respond to requests for him to make a statement.

• Hinton and Baylis claim 'councillors should be shot'.