The former partner of Adrian Hughes, a jailed ex-Dudley councillor convicted of sexual offences involving children, has publicly condemned the 32-month prison sentence, calling it far too lenient.
Hughes, 36, who served as a Labour councillor for the Upper Gornal and Woodsetton ward from 2022 to 2024, pleaded guilty at Preston Crown Court on April 24 to multiple charges. These included attempts to initiate non-penetrative sexual activity and sexual communication with girls aged under 13 and between 13 and 15 years.
His crimes were uncovered through an undercover police operation where officers posed as minors online. Hughes solicited explicit images and sent indecent pictures of himself. During sentencing, Miss Recorder A Siddiqi stated, “You thought you were messaging 12 and 13-year-olds. You could have done a great deal of harm. Unacceptable does not capture how appalling your behaviour was; immediate custody was inevitable.”
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Hughes’s ex-partner, a mother of three who wished to remain anonymous, expressed deep disgust at the sentence and his actions. “It is definitely not long enough for what he did, what I heard in that court, and what he has done and sent. He has children not much younger than that — it is disgusting. He should have received a much longer sentence.”
During his time on Dudley Council, Hughes sat on committees related to children and young people but, according to his ex-partner, he did not have contact with any children in that capacity. “He made decisions but wasn’t around kids, so I have no concerns about that,” she said.
Hughes was arrested in June 2025 after sending explicit messages to two supposed girls aged 12 and 13, who were in fact fictitious decoys created by law enforcement. Following complaints about his behaviour, he was suspended by Labour in October 2023 but intended to continue as an independent councillor until he was expelled in May 2024 for non-attendance.
Despite the trauma caused by Hughes’s actions and sentencing, his ex-partner emphasized her resilience. “It’s not going to affect me and my kids. We will carry on living our lives. We will be happy. It’s not going to affect us in the slightest.”