Tory police and crime commissioner is told to apologise and act more professionally on social media after wrongly accusing a man of misusing public funds

A police and crime commissioner has been ordered to apologise to an individual over 'disrespectful' and inaccurate comments he made on social media.

Festus Akinbusoye, the Conservative PCC for Bedfordshire, was reprimanded after suggesting the unnamed man had misused public funds.

The county's police and crime panel complaints sub-committee also said he had to act more professionally on social media and stick to accurate data in posts.

Mr Akinbusoye, who has held the post since 2021, was found to have made a 'strong implication' online that the complainant himself, or through his association with Luton Neighbourhood Watch, had improperly used public funds.

Statements including 'in particular a reference to Psalm 59 of the Bible' – which includes the line 'Deliver me from my enemies, O God' - implied the man was 'an enemy', the committee added.

There was also admonishment for online comments that were 'disrespectful' to elected councillors, who were referred to as 'so-called independents'.

A further finding against Mr Akinbusoye was the suggestion that the county has 'one of the lowest number of police officers per head of population in the country', which was not backed by data held by the Office for National Statistics.

The sub-committee met in private in March but the minutes and outcome were leaked to the BBC.

Its report concluded Mr Akinbusoye – who came second to Labour in the Mid-Bedfordshire be-election last year that followed the resignation of Nadine Dorries – had 'failed to achieve the level of professional behaviour expected of those in public office'.

He responded by saying he 'totally rejects the findings and will be responding fully as part of the formal process in due course'.

Nigerian-born Mr Akinbusoye, who is hoping to be re-elected to the PCC post on May 2 in an election with three other candidates - added: 'The complaints process is not yet completed and it is quite shocking that the complainant has released the findings of the panel sub-committee before I have had the opportunity to respond to them, so I am limited as to what I can say for legal reasons.

'It will be very concerning to any objective observer looking at this process, that an independent police and crime panel decided to hold a sub-committee complaint hearing a day before the election regulated period commenced, despite receiving the complaint from a well-known serial complainant nearly six weeks before the date, and then further enabled the outcome to be released by the serial complainant.'

In a comment to the BBC, he added: 'The timing of the panel's intervention is therefore deeply regrettable.

'It is sadly not the first time the police and crime panel has inserted itself yet again into an election campaign where I am a candidate, resulting in public accusations of bullying and interference by one of its own members.

'I remain fully focused on my positive campaign to be re-elected as Bedfordshire's PCC, while continuing to fulfil all my duties on behalf of residents.'

The panel said the matter was concluded and there was no right of appeal for Mr Akinbusoye, who emigrated to the UK in 1991 as a teenager with his parents and twin sister.

A Bedfordshire Borough Council spokesman said: 'On March 25, the police and crime panel considered a complaint against the police commissioner.

'The outcome of the complaint was subsequently notified on a confidential basis to the complainant and to the commissioner.

'The panel is bound by its own complaints procedure, taken from statute, that says the panel cannot publish it unless it has first consulted the complainant and the commissioner and, after considering their comments, deems it to be in the public interest.

'We have now written to ask them both for their comments but have not heard back yet. This process is ongoing.'

The PCC's office said: 'The complaint process has not yet concluded so it would be inappropriate to make any comment until it has been finalised.'

Bedfordshire Police were also contacted by MailOnline for a comment.