Liron Woodcock-Velleman – London

A former Labour councillor has pleaded guilty to sexual offences against a 13-year-old girl.

Jewish activist Liron Woodcock-Velleman, 30, sent naked pictures of himself to the youngster and asked if she was alone at home.

He also urged the girl to show him her bra and asked “whether she was a virgin” before he was caught by London’s Metropolitan Police in a sting operation.

Woodcock-Velleman appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Friday (January 2) when he admitted one count of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

The father of one also admitted one count of being an offender aged 18 or over attempting to cause a child aged 13 to 15 to watch or look at an image of sexual activity.

He is due to be sentenced on February 10 at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court

The former councillor was released on conditional bail and cannot be in the company of anyone under the age of 18.

Woodcock-Velleman won one of two seats for Labour representing the Whetstone ward on Barnet Council in the 2022 local elections

He resigned in April last year with no explanation.

Woodcock-Velleman was described by Jewish News as an influential figure within the Jewish Labour Movement group, a Zionist socialist society affiliated with the Labour Party.

He previously campaigned with Sir Keir Starmer and praised Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, as an ally of Jewish Barnet Labour councillors in a joint letter signed by the same grouping of local politicians published by the Barnet Post in October 2023.