Brian Coleman tells local paper he admitted assault charge to ‘save driving licence’

Brian Coleman may have been convicted in a court of law recently but it seems to have prompted little remorse from the disgraced councillor.

The former Barnet mayor gave an exclusive interview with the Barnet Press last week in which he claimed he only pleaded guilty to assaulting café owner Helen Michael to save his driving licence.

Speaking for the first time since his conviction for common assault at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on May 3, Cllr Coleman said he pleaded guilty as part of a deal with the Crown Prosecution Service that saw a charge of dangerous driving dropped.

The 51-year-old Totteridge councillor said he had grown “sick and tired” of a fierce campaign by traders, spearheaded by Ms Michael, against his parking regime and conceded this may have influenced his reaction to Ms Michael filming him outside her café on the day of the assault.

Cllr Coleman, now independent after being suspended by the Conservative Party, is due to discover in the next few weeks whether or not he is to be permanently expelled from the Tory ranks.

The Ham&High contacted Cllr Coleman but he was unavailable for comment.