Council boss who fled drink-drive crash handed £90K 'golden goodbye' (2025)

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A Labour-run council chief who fled from a drink-drive collision has pocketed a taxpayer-funded 'golden goodbye' worth almost £90,000, it has been revealed.

Bayo Dosunmu, who was chief executive of Lambeth council in south London on a salary of £190,000, was charged last June withdriving offences.

He was held by theMetropolitan Policeafter allegedly fleeing the scene of a car accident in the capital - and later pleaded guilty to charges he faced.

The then-46-year-old from Hammersmith in west London was charged with failing to stop after a road accident and being in charge of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

He had been paid £187,775 a year, according to a Lambeth Council document from November 2022, while also receiving a further unknown payment for his role as Returning Officer for elections.

After being arrested in June last year, Mr Dosunmuwas later barred from driving for two years.

Now documents have revealed how the 46-year-old received £87,879 after he and the Lambeth local authority 'agreed to jointly enter into a settlement agreement', the Telegraph reported.

Campaigners have condemned the payout as a waste of taxpayers' money.

Mr Dosunmu was behind the wheel of a white Jeep ahead of the crash with a blue Toyota just before 9am on June 23 last year, near Wandsworth Bridge Road in Fulham.

The CEO, said to be living in a flat in Chelsea Harbour, was discovered to be three times the drink-drive limit - and when appearing beforeWestminster magistrates last September, he admitted to being uninsured, drink-driving and failing to stop.

The sentence was a 12-month community order, while telling him to attend 15 days of rehab sessions as well as 150 hours of community service.

The Telegraph has now revealed a freedom of information request asked whether Lambeth council deemed his behaviour to have been gross misconduct.

The local authority responded by saying: '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.'

And it went on to tell how he was handed£46,943 'in respect of his notice period', as well as £6,687 for 'untaken annual leave' plus two 'pro rata payments'.

Those later ones were for his duties as acting returning officer at the general election last July as well as a simultaneous by-election, adding up to an extra £34,250.

Mr Dosunmu is also reported to have kept his local government deferred pension.

Elliot Keck, from campaign group 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 frontline 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.'

When contacted today, a Lambeth Council spokesperson 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.'

MailOnline has contacted Mr Dosunmu's legal representatives for comment.

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