Council boss caught in drink-drive crash handed £90k golden goodbye
Bayo Dosunmu 'stepped down' from his £190,000-a-year role as chief executive at Labour-run Lambeth council after he was arrested in June 2024.
He was later disqualified from driving for two years after admitting a series of motoring offences.
Newly released documents have revealed that Dosunmu, 46, received £87,879 after he and the council 'agreed to jointly enter into a settlement agreement' following the 'unexpected and unprecedented emergency situation'.
The pay-off was described as a waste of taxpayers' money amid claims that his criminal behaviour 'brought the council into disrepute'.
The council's own constitution stated that it 'reserves the right to take action against any employee whose actions and/ or behaviour, inside or outside work, could reasonably be regarded as bringing the council into disrepute.'
Dosunmu was driving a white Jeep when he was involved in a collision with a blue Toyota just before 9am on June 23 2024 at a junction near Wandsworth Bridge Road in Fulham, south west London.
Three times the drink-drive limit
He was followed by the Toyota as he attempted to drive away and was forced to stop. Police said Dosunmu was slurring his words and 'struggling to follow directions'.
Dosunmu, who was living in an apartment in Chelsea Harbour, was found to be three times the drink-drive limit.
Appearing at Westminster Magistrates Court in September 2024, he admitted to being uninsured, drink-driving and failing to stop after the crash.
He was received a 12-month community order, with 15 days of rehab sessions and 150 hours of community service.
A freedom of information request asked whether the council had considered his behaviour to be gross misconduct. The authority replied: 'The council considered the issues as ones which gave rise to the question of whether trust and confidence in Dosunmu as chief executive had broken down.'
The response explained that he was suspended the day of his arrest and then 'stepped down' the following month but 'no reason was given'.
Under a 'contractual entitlement', it added that Dosunmu was given £46,943 'in respect of his notice period', another £6,687 for 'untaken annual leave' and two 'pro rata payments – up to the date of suspension – for his acting returning officer duties' during the general election and a by-election on July 4 2024, which amounted to £34,250.
He also kept his local government deferred pension.
'Absolute disgrace'
Elliot Keck, the head of campaigns at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'It's an absolute disgrace that a council boss on a six-figure salary was handed nearly £90,000 of taxpayers' cash after being convicted of drink-driving and fleeing the scene of a crash.
'Residents expect their hard-earned money to fund front-line services, not soft landings for disgraced officials.
'Lambeth council should explain why someone who brought the council into disrepute was handed a golden goodbye instead of being shown the door without a penny.'
A spokesman for Lambeth council said: 'Bayo Dosunmu stepped down as chief executive of Lambeth council in July 2024. He received payment in respect of his notice period, untaken annual leave and for his work as acting returning officer for the general election and a by-election.
'These were paid in line with his contract and for work already completed.'
Sheila O'Reilly, the Lambeth resident who lodged the data request, has set up a petition calling on the Government to intervene because the authority is 'increasingly authoritarian' and operating as a 'virtual one-party state' with no effective opposition and spiralling debts.
Colin Aylott KC, Dosunmu's lawyer, told the court hearing that his client had a 'history of public service' and 'some degree of pride' when he got the job at Lambeth council.
'To have lost his job and the ramifications that flow from that have taken a heavy toll on him,' he said, adding that Dosunmu is now living with a relative.
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