A “predatory” former Aberystwyth mayor “used his power to make his move on women” and “preyed upon those who he considered might not have been likely to have raised concerns,” a tribunal has heard.

The behaviour of Steve Davies, who represented the Penparcau Ward on both Ceredigion County Council and Aberystwyth Town Council from 2012 until his resignation in October 2023, was described in an Adjudication Panel for Wales report as “creepy”, “pestering” and “stalking.”

The tribunal panel heard evidence of nine incidents which were reported to authorities or police where female victims were left “scared”, and heard of “widespread concerns in the community” about the former councillor’s “predatory behaviour.”

In November 2020, Ceredigion County Council received a referral from police from a woman who said she had been harassed and stalked by Davies since September 2020.

The panel heard that Davies “left ‘love notes’ on her bicycle on eight or nine occasions, when she had left it to shop in the local supermarket.”

“The notes indicated that he found her attractive and that he was interested in forming a relationship,” the panel heard.

“The woman’s boyfriend had contacted the Respondent to ask him to stop, using the telephone number that he had left in the notes.

“He did not adhere to that request and the notes continued to appear.”

Davies – who represented Aberystwyth as its mayor in 2017-18 - was spoken to by an Adult Safeguarding officer, the panel heard, but “the impression given was that he had no intention of changing his conduct; he merely said that he would look for a victim who was less likely to complain on the next occasion.”

Davies said he left the notes to try to “attract attention”, describing it as “boy girl thing” with “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

The panel heard that complaints against Davies were raised by members at the Penparcau Community Hub where he volunteered.

It was alleged that he made” inappropriate comments and conducted himself improperly in relation to a new, young, female worker and one of the female co-ordinators in late February 2021.

The panel heard Davies “made repeated sexual remarks” to the co-ordinator, and invited her to get into a shopping trolley so that he could ‘give her the ride of her life’.”

Other complaints were also raised about Davies having made “derogatory and offensive comments whilst out delivering food in the Hub minibus.”

Davies, who claimed he did not recall any sexual comments, was suspended from working at the Hub on 5 March 2021.

The tribunal panel also heard that two female witnesses were interviewed by the police and claimed that they had been harassed Davies after he paid unwanted visits to them, sometimes at night, brought them flowers and tended to their gardens.

One said Davies had talked to her about “liking big breasts” while the other described his conduct as “creepy” and an attempt to “worm his way in.”

Both were reluctant to make formal complaints because of Davies’ position as a councillor and that he lived nearby.

The panel also heard of incidents which saw Davies banned from entering two sports clubs in Aberystwyth.

The panel heard that he “pursued” a barmaid at “a local sports club” and “started to drop off presents for her” in October 2022.

After being told not to use the bar again when complaints were raised, Davies then started to visit the woman’s day work address and continued to drop off gifts and cards.

Many of the letters and cards “contained romantic quotations from songs”, the panel heard, while another said that he had seen the woman’s boyfriend and considered that she ‘could do better’.

His conduct was reported to police, but a formal complaint was not made.

When interviewed, Davies said that “he considered the woman to have been very pretty and he admitted having made the gifts.

When asked about the age difference between them, he commented that ‘age was only a number’ He did not think that he ought to have been criticised for having tried to ‘get a lady interested’, the panel heard.

In April 2022, Davies was banned from visiting Aberystwyth rugby club because of an allegation of harassment that he referred to a woman as a “good pull.”

In September 2022, Ceredigion MP Ben Lake received an anonymous letter about Davies that asserted he had been “using his power to make his move on women”, and that the letter writer had “seen for myself how he preys on younger women.”

In early October 2020, a complaint was made about Davies who had been “making welfare checks on a vulnerable widow” who did not live in his ward.

The panel heard that Davies had known the woman’s late husband and “had visited her soon after his death.”

Her niece had asked him not to visit again but he had not adhered to the request.

As a result, the relative contacted the council.

The widow complained that he had “pestered” her “very frequently” and she had become “frightened” and “very scared due to the councillor’s attitude” and had wanted it to stop.

Davies had even been warned off by a window cleaner when he had been seen entering the property via the back door,” the tribunal heard.

Davies said that he had not returned to visit once he had been asked not to.

In early December 2020 an anonymous caller telephoned the council expressing concerns about elderly members of their family after Davies was “alleged to have been visiting properties in his ward during the pandemic to ensure that residents were safe and not in need of anything.”

The tribunal panel findings said that Davies’ conduct had been described as “creepy”, “pestering” and/or stalking.

“In our judgment, put simply, Davies’ behaviour was predatory,” the panel found.

“He appeared to prey upon those who he considered might not have been likely to have raised concerns; those who were lonely and/or housebound or those who were significantly younger than him.”

The panel said Davies’ actions were “deliberate, planned and designed to elicit contact and/or relationships.”

The panel added his behaviour was not a ‘one off’, and said he “had engaged in a pattern of conduct over many months involving multiple individuals.”

“There was upset caused to some individuals and more significant alarm and distress to others,” the panel concluded.

“There was an imbalance of power, both because of his position and, in some cases, the differences in age between him and those to whom he made advances.”

An investigation was launched into his conduct by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales which led to an interim suspension as a councillor in March 2023.

In July this year, the final report into Davies’ behaviour from the Ombudsman suggested that “because of the seriousness of the conduct involved, the Tribunal ought to give consideration to his disqualification from office.”

The tribunal panel found that Davies “did not reply” to the Ombudsman’s interim report and also “failed to reply to the final report, other than to confirm its receipt and to indicate that, since he had resigned, he considered it to have been an end of the matter.”

He was banned from holding public office for three years.