LABOUR mayor Philip Glanville partied with a paedophile councillor after learning he was under investigation for child sex offences, photos shared with the Morning Star reveal.

The deleted Facebook images show Hackney’s elected mayor taking a selfie at a Eurovision bash with his flatmate Tom Dewey on the night he was informed of his arrest by the council’s chief executive.

This evening, Hackney MP Diane Abbott said Mr Glanville should consider his position for lying in public office, as he had claimed he did not contact the high-flying member of the party’s right after being told of the police investigation into his crimes last May.

The former shadow home secretary also suggested there had been a cover-up by Labour bosses who banned local members from talking about the investigation into Dame Meg Hillier’s former agent.

She told the Morning Star: “I think he needs to consider his position because he has misled people and the images that Dewey had were very serious.

“It’s all very concerning really because Philip had said he had not spoken to Dewey since becoming aware, but he is at a party, so he has spoken to him.

“He also gave the impression that he wasn’t living in the house at the time.”

She raised concerns over the 36-year-old having access to children while politically canvassing in the week between his arrest at his home and his election on May 6 last year. 

FOIs have confirmed the council’s former chief executive informed Mr Glanville by telephone of the arrest and allegations against Dewey two days before its leadership announced his resignation for “personal reasons” on May 16.

Local Labour members only learned of the nature of the arrest when Dewey was charged more than a year later but were banned from discussing the case after raising safeguarding concerns with Labour bosses.

Hackney North CLP’s means of communicating with the rest of the party via its internal mailing system remains suspended after the topic was raised at a meeting attended by Labour’s London regional director Pearleen Sangha last month.

Ms Abbott, who now sits as an independent, yesterday backed local Labour members’ calls for an independent inquiry into who knew what with regards to Dewey’s offences, adding she “shared their concerns” over a cover-up by the party bosses.

“The local party hasn’t been allowed to discuss it and party members are concerned about that because once he had been sentenced there was no reason why they shouldn’t be able to,” she said.

A Hackney Labour source who shared the photo with the Star, which is timestamped to 9.40pm May 14 2022, said: “It strengthens the call for an investigation because it looks very much like a big cover-up — like this was done for electoral gain.”

A second source added: “It kind of beggars belief. Perhaps he naively assumed this photography would never appear in the public domain.

“There are questions about why the National Crime Agency (NCA) took a fortnight to notify Hackney Council of the arrest.”

The NCA today confirmed Dewey had been released on unconditional bail before he pleaded guilty to all five counts of child sex offences last month. He received a 12-month suspended sentence and 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

A third source, who remembers “liking” the party photo on Facebook, told the Star: “It’s really shocking, it’s really outrageous.

“It’s really really terrible actually and it’s one of the awful things about the factionalism in the Labour Party, that with that sort of stuff there will be people who will be excusing that because he was a figure on the right.”

Hackney Council referred queries to Mr Glanville, who told the Morning Star today: “Being with Tom Dewey at all on May 14 was clearly an error of judgement for which I wholeheartedly apologise.

“I was told of his arrest, but not the full extent of the charges, in a brief discussion with the council chief executive the same day.

“I shouldn’t have been at the event in which we were photographed but I did so as I feared to cancel the event, or not attend myself, may alert Tom to what I knew, during what I understood to be a live criminal case.

“This does not alter the fact I had no involvement in the case, and shouldn’t deter from the actions, including moving out of the house the following day, as well as others I have taken since his resignation and conviction, which I have made clear in previous statements.”

In a previous statement Mr Glanville had said: “I was not made aware of the police investigation until after the May 2022 elections when I was told by the council.

“I have not seen or spoken to Mr Dewey since I became aware of the investigation.”