Tributes paid to councillor

Dearne North member Dave Sim was discovered at his Thurnscoe home in Togo Buildings after his daughter raised the alarm.

A postmortem gave the cause of death as traumatic skull fracture and an inquest has been opened and adjourned.

Mr Sim (64) was elected as a councillor in May 2014, and was very well known in the ward. He had been involved with the Labour party locally for a number of years.

Barnsley Council leader Cllr Sir Stephen Houghton said: “Cllr Dave Sim, despite only serving on the local authority for a short period of time, impressed everyone with his dedication and commitment to the role and particularly the championing of the Dearne Valley and Thurnscoe.

“Dave had a dry sense of humour and was well respected and regarded by his colleagues here at the council.  

“He will be greatly missed by ourselves and I am sure his family and friends. I offer my sincere condolences to them.”

John Healey, Wentworth and Dearne MP, said: “I was so sorry to hear about the sudden and sad passing of Cllr Dave Sim.

“Dave had only represented Dearne North for a year but was well-liked by his colleagues and very well-known in the ward.

“He had deep roots in the Dearne and long record of community and union work before his election. We’ll all miss him greatly.”

Dearne South councillor Sharron Brook said: “I did not know Cllr Sim very well but when we did meet he was always very pleasant and always chased up any casework that had come to the wrong ward.  

“We were all so very shocked at his terrible accident and our sincere condolences go to his wife and family.”

The inquest into Cllr Sim’s death on May 23 was adjourned at Barnsley Coroner’s Court last Thursday and is expected to resume within two months.

The funeral will take place on Monday at 11.15am at St Helen’s Church, followed by Bolton Cemetery at noon and then onto Thurnscoe Working Men’s Club.