He says he was sent the unsolicited image and is “very embarrassed” that he accidentally forwarded it on to a group of mums and fellow councillors.
Coun Maroof says the image was set to him earlier in the day on a different Whatsapp message and was automatically downloaded into his phone’s photo file.
He said: “This is my private phone and I receive so many things that my Whatsapp has been set up to automatically save everything in my phone’s photo file.
“Somebody sent me this photo, it may have come in the morning, and it went into my phone’s file.
He said he was trying to attach a video of Ms Irshad speaking at the meeting and instead accidentally attached the unsolicited image, which he received earlier in the day, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The councillor, who represents Nether Edge and Sharrow, said he asked for it to be deleted "within seconds" of sending it.
Coun Maroof wrote an apology in the WhatsApp group and has said sorry again. He said: “I sincerely apologise. I had no intention to do such a thing and to cause such disruption. I have a lot of respect for the group. I am very embarrassed and this was an honest mistake.”
Coun Maroof says he helped to set up the Mums United group to empower women. Now he has been suspended by the Labour council pending an investigation.
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