Partner appears to have made texts public after a fallout

A charity boss has defended offering donated clothes to her ex-partner.

A bizarre text conversation between Humanity Torbay founder Ellie Waugh and Mark King, a local councillor, shows how she offered him “expensive” clothes that had been donated by the public.

Waugh texted: “Do u want any of these clothes really good stuff expensive."

To which King replied: “I'd better not, I can see the headline now 'councillor steals from homeless'."

Waugh has since said she had made a donation to her charity for the clothes and therefore it was not stealing.

The text messages, sent in January 2018, seem to have emerged after a fallout between the two.

Waugh said she offered him the clothes because he had been thrown out his home. "He said he was getting divorced from his wife and he had no clothes," she said.

"I put in a donation, that's not me stealing something."

She offered King three jumpers and made a donation of £50 to the charity.

Humanity Torbay faces ongoing controversy over how it is run.

Waugh is currently facing an online petition calling for the organisation to be shut down for “ripping off homeless people.”

Independent councillor King, who has not attended any council meetings for the last six months, said he had not accepted the jumpers.

"It shows what contempt she has for the people she claims to help," he said.

King is now living in the Philippines, fleeing to Manilla where he runs an online travel business after saying he feared for his safety over online bullying and harassment.