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THE Standards Board inquiry into Cllr Stephen MacLoughlin and pornography accessed on his council laptop took an unexpected twist this morning when the committee was presented with two reports.

The official investigator's report concludes that Cllr MacLoughlin did breach the code of conduct and should be required at the very least to make a public apology.

But the second report commissioned by the council has been compiled by a QC and finds that Cllr MacLoughlin was not acting in an official capacity when he repeatedly accessed the website containing "explicit sexual activity" on 13/12/08 and the 14/12/08.

The second report is unprecedented but was commissioned by the council's head of legal services because it was felt that the official investigator's report was not strong enough.

In the official investigator's report Cllr MacLoughlin confirmed he was at home alone when the adult website was accessed.

So far the hearing has heard from the official investigator Meic Sullivan-Gould who said as far as he was concerned it was fairly clear cut that Cllr MacLoughlin had breached the code of conduct, specifically in two areas.

These were specified as the misuse of council resources and bringing the office of the council into disrepute.

The hearing has also heard from the council’s head of IT Mark Bailey.

Cllr MacLoughlin, who looked calm, said the facts of the matter were not in dispute and that he apologised for a breach of the council's IT policy.

But in a strong defence of his position he said he was not acting as a councillor during these episodes and that the council's code of conduct therefore did not apply.