The Ulster Unionist Party has selected as a council election candidate a community worker who gave a court reference for a man jailed for battering his ex-wife.
Brian Kerr has been chosen by the UUP to stand for election next May to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.
He runs a community organisation in Rathcoole called Listening Ear which provides support on issues including housing, mental health and drug-and-alcohol abuse.
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Mr Kerr provided a letter to a court for Thompson Beckett, a taxi driver jailed for two years after admitting a string of violent assaults on his ex-wife.
A judge at Belfast Crown Court said the domestic violence left her with mental injuries including post-traumatic stress disorder along with physical scars.
Mr Kerr's letter was referenced in court when 44-year-old Beckett was sentenced in January.
The UUP candidate told Belfast Live the letter was not in "support" of Beckett, describing his actions as "abhorrent".
In a statement issued through the party, Mr Kerr said: "Domestic violence is never acceptable or excusable. It is always wrong and Thompson Beckett's actions were abhorrent.
"A letter was submitted at the request of the individual's family and stated that during the Covid emergency Thompson Beckett had volunteered in collecting food for the daily free food market and had delivered food hampers. These are statements of facts, not statements of support.
"I work on a voluntary basis with the victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. The work with the perpetrators is to help them identify the hurt they cause to their victims, their family and the community. The purpose is to stop domestic violence and end the cycle."
Mr Kerr confirmed he had been selected as an Ulster Unionist candidate for the Three Mile Water area of Antrim and Newtownabbey council.
In 2018 he set up Listening Ear, which aims to provide services on mental health, suicide prevention, drug-and-alcohol awareness as well as debt, welfare and housing advice.
Beckett was arrested in October 2020 after turning up outside his ex-wife's home at Dunanney Avenue in the Rathcoole estate.
Neighbours raised the alarm after he was seen pulling her by the hair onto the street and punching her in the face.
She sustained injuries that required stitches and dental surgery.
Beckett was later charged with and convicted of another four assaults in 2020.
As well as being jailed for two years, he was ordered by the court to spend another two years on probation following his release in late 2023.
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