As he faces death, murder victim Stuart Lubbock’s father hires top lawyer to seek a second inquest into what went on in Michael Barrymore’s swimming pool in 2001
Nearly twenty years ago on 31st March 2001, ‘entertainer’ Michael Barrymore invited a gaggle of people to his home for an after-party. He knew some of them well, others less so and when one of them, 31-year-old Stuart Lubbock, was found dead in the environs of his swimming pool, a wall of silence disgracefully went up.
One man, the victim’s father Terry Lubbock, has run a campaign to get justice and though Barrymore and his cronies have repeatedly contradicted one another and nobody has ever been convicted, this determined individual has never given up.
Now suffering with terminal prostate cancer and living in a care home in Harlow, Essex Terry Lubbock yesterday told the Mirror that he hopes to “win permission to apply to the High Court for a new inquest” and stated:
“I’ve only a few months left. I want justice for my son before I go. We’ve got a big-gun barrister working on this. We are getting close.”
“The first inquest was either a mess-up or a cover-up. Our own team have been working on the case and have dug up new evidence. We are going for a second inquest. It will reveal everything.”
“Whoever did this to my son has got away with it for 20 years, but not for much longer. I can’t die without knowing there will be a second inquest because then I feel sure the truth will come out.”
Responding, the QC mentioned, Alan Payne, remarked:
“Terry is a man of great dignity and principle. I was grateful for the chance to help identify steps that might be taken to try to get greater clarity as to events surrounding his son’s death.”
Last month, we reported on a member of Essex Police giving a statement about the case. At the time, Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Jennings remarked:
“I believe that [Stuart] was raped and murdered that night. One or more of those party-goers are responsible for that serious sexual assault on Stuart Lubbock.”
“We remain committed to this investigation and continue to appeal for information leading to arrest and conviction in relation to the rape and murder of Stuart Lubbock.”
“Nine people went to the party at Michael Barrymore’s house, but only one of them – Stuart – ended up being violently sexually assaulted and murdered.”
“We know not everyone at that party was responsible for what happened, but someone was. We also know that not everyone at that party may know what happened, but someone does.”
“We want the people who do have information to come forward and talk to us – it is never too late to do the right thing and give the Lubbock family the answers and justice they have waited so long to have.”
To learn of developments in this case, follow the Justice4Stuart Official page on Twitter at @Justice4Stuart.
Pictured top: Disgraced ‘entertainer’ Michael Barrymore (left) and Terry Lubbock with a picture of his murdered son, Stuart.
Second Inquest for Stuart Lubbock 2021 – The scene of the crime: Michael Barrymore’s then home, 4 Beaumont Park Drive, Roydon, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5HB.Second Inquest for Stuart Lubbock 2021 – Barrister Alan Payne has been brought in to use “new evidence” to secure a second inquest into the murder of Stuart Lubbock at Michael Barrymore’s then home on 31st March 2001.
Justice for Stuart Lubbock – The people who need to tell the truth about what happened at Michael Barrymore’s home on 31st March 2001
Michael Parker (AKA Michael Barrymore) – Allegedly loudly said: “I need a f**k” in a taxi as he left the Millennium Nightclub to return to his home, the scene of the death of Stuart Lubbock.
Barrymore later lied to a coroner’s court about facilitating drug taking at his house on the night in question also. He claimed to have been first to have discovered the body of Stuart Lubbock at 5.45am, called his manager Mike Brown before the ambulance arrived and then left the premises. He admits that was “wrong” and also bizarrely told Piers Morgan that in spite of “knowing others were hiding secrets about what happened to Mr. Lubbock” that “I am not going to say their names. I just hope they are brave enough to come forward one day.”
Mike Brown – Agent of Michael Barrymore. Called to the property before emergency services arrived.
Kelly Campbell – Had met Michael Barrymore for the first time on the night of the incident. Claimed not to have been aware of what happened.
James Futters (sometimes spelt ‘Futers’) – A paper boy turned chef. Described as “a local from the village” and a “friend and neighbour of Barrymore.” Claimed to have been the first to discover the body with Simon Shaw and stated: “[It was not] Michael Barrymore and not Jonathan Kenney [who found him].” Later, of him the Evening Standard reported: “Barrymore offered James Futters a white powder on his finger saying: ‘Do you want to try this?’ Mr Futters told the inquest that he leaned forward and licked the powder.”
Claire Jones – Then aged 17. Had met Michael Barrymore for the first time on the night of the incident. Claimed not to have been aware of what happened but told the police that she “saw Barrymore rummaging through drawers and changing his clothes before police arrived. When he left the house, he had a ‘bundle of material’ under his arm,” according to the Evening Standard. “She added: ‘Jonathan (Kenney) was rushing through the bungalow before the ambulance and police arrived. I got the impression he was hiding something.’”
Jonathan Kenney – Estate agent, drag queen and Michael Barrymore’s then lover; later arrested on suspicion of murder but never charged; known for having a “record of violence.” Claimed to have been the first to have discovered the body.
Justin Merritt – A dustman from Essex. Later arrested on suspicion of murder but never charged. Later paid £30,000 by the News of the World for an interview in which he stated Barrymore had “rubbed cocaine on Stuart Lubbock’s lips shortly before he died.”
Kylie Merritt – Sister of Justin Merritt. She also alleged Barrymore “rubbed cocaine on Stuart Lubbock’s lips shortly before he died” (curiously in the wake of her brother selling his account of the night).
Simon Shaw – Described as “a local from the village.” Michael Barrymore supposedly “ran off” to Mr. Shaw’s house to “buy himself thinking time [for two hours] before he was questioned by the police [at 7.49am].”
In addition, others, who’ve never been identified could also have possibly been present. If they were, they should come forward or be named by those listed above.
As our Change.org petition seeking to ban giraffe slayer Merelize van der Merwe tops 40,000 signatures, the psycho publicity addict shared a CBS documentary of another mental monster killing a giraffe
Elephant and giraffe murderer Merelize van der Merwe used to love the fact that 400 people she termed “snowflakes” signed a petition seeking to ban her from Facebook. Now, in less than a month, our new petition aiming to achieve the same has topped 40,000.
Now, aside from banning us from commenting on her Facebook “public figure” page, van der Merwe has attempted to justify her actions by sharing a video of another monster, an American named Tess Talley, bragging about killing a giraffe also.
In doing so, this deranged deviant has yet again proven she’s nothing but clinically insane and again today we urge those that haven’t already to help get our Change.org petition to ban her from the social media medium past 50,000 signatures. Please do so by clicking here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIlJ61wwWQY
40,000 turn on Mental Monster Merelize van der Merwe – The YouTube video shared by Merelize van der Merwe as part of her campaign to justify massacring a giraffe featured another wicked wench who’d done the same thing named Tess Talley.
Deranged deviant Merelize van der Merwe on…
Death threats
“So, after all these death threats from people sitting comfortably behind a computer 15,000 kilometers away, it made me realise one thing… I haven’t hunted enough! So, I’ll go hunt some more tonight!”
Mental disorders
“We have seen mental disorders grow especially with social media giving these people a voice and openly expressing unnatural hatred towards people they never met with Instagram and Facebook. We in the hunting industry I’m sure deals [sic] with more of these unstable people then the psychiatric ward itself.”
“So please next time if someone attacks you for hunting, just remind them they forgot their pills this morning and let’s get these people under control.”
Truth and poetry and hunting
“Truth is like poetry and most people f**king hate poetry… Same when it comes to hunting and conservation people only listen to what they want to hear and not the truth.”
Liberals
“It’s just these new age liberals who piss and moan and say hunting isn’t natural… You aren’t natural.”
Kenya
“Kenya has sold its soul to the devil, AKA animal rights activists.”
Prince Harry
“Soon he’ll be back in diapers.”
Donald Trump
“I love Trump because he pisses off all the people I can’t stand.”
“What a privilege it was to look up to a President and know how a President should run a country. Today many are heartbroken across the world.”
“I salute you President Trump. What a man you are and may God bless you on your next chapter in life.”
On those that opposed Trump
“Eat a bag of dicks you dirty f**king communists.”
Celebrating killing an elephant
“After the elephant was down I went to buy beer and gin for team motivation. The next day I looked like a red crab.”
Why she likes killing elephants
“Tell me how hunting [elephants] doesn’t benefit people and the ecosystem.”
How she feels after a “kill”
“I was like a child for two weeks, counting the days. Afterwards I was flooded with emotions.”
People who protect elephants
“Never underestimate the power of stupid.”
People who object to the vile images she shares on social media
“To the dumb f**k who tried to report my video, take this and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.”
“If you’re looking for a safe space, my page ain’t it… Move along, snowflake.”
Charity and hunting
“Charity is not sustainable, hunting is.”
Killing endangered species and conservation
“The only people protecting these animals are trophy hunters.”
Why she massacres endangered species
“In the end I’m nothing but yet another slave to this trade and a willing one too. The only time I find peace is living life on the edge. I firmly believe one is born like this and not made.”
“We will keep on fighting the animal rights mafia propaganda as hunting has proven sustainable for wildlife.”
“A day without blood is like a day without sunshine… Nature is not a Disney fairytale.”
40,000 turn on Mental Monster Merelize van der Merwe – In recent days Merelize van der Merwe (left) has posted about how she got malaria in Africa from the water and posed with a picture of herself “sipping a pink gin and tonic in Zambia” after “6 months non-stop 7 days a week of hunting.” She also lauded fellow mentally unhinged giraffe murderer (right) Tess Talley.40,000 turn on Mental Monster Merelize van der Merwe – The disgraceful picture that made clinically crackers Merelize van der Merwe internationally infamous.40,000 turn on Mental Monster Merelize van der Merwe – This monster has also taken pleasure in killing elephants and leopards. She must be banned by Facebook and her slaying of endangered species must be forever stopped.
As Christian Brueckner is cleared of the abduction of the “German Madeleine McCann” Inga Gehricke, we again slam the use of the distraction technique
In September 2020, we reported that Christian Brueckner – the plainly vile German paedophile touted as the abductor of Madeleine McCann in Praia Da Luz, Portugal in May 2007 – was going to be cleared. Now, today, in a throwaway piece buried deep in The Sun’s online pages, it has been revealed that this incarcerated monster has “been ruled out” of the May 2015 kidnapping of Inga Gehricke – a 5-year-old dubbed “the German Maddie.”
When ‘Christian B,’ as some media sources reference the convicted rapist, was first brought to public attention last year, Boris Johnson’s government were struggling to handle the fact that coronavirus chaos was hampering them in the headlines.
The introduction of Brueckner as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, for some days, helped them as it distracted from their woes. Here, was a clear example of the ‘distraction technique’ at work and now, here, we can see where this ‘investigation’ is going: A complete whitewash.
Speaking to The Sun last night, Brueckner’s lawyer, Friedrich Fulscher, remarked: “The public prosecutor’s office has thoroughly examined connections to the Inga case and determined there isn’t even an initial suspicion against my client.”
Going further of the distraction plainly going on in McCann case, speaking earlier, Fulscher added:
“My client hasn’t been charged with anything. [Christian Brueckner] is under investigation and under suspicion. I have to assume that they do not have any concrete evidence. I think that’s quite typical for us Germans.”
“We think we are something special, at least in Europe, and think we can do things better than other nations. We will see if that is the case, but I don’t think so.”
Meanwhile on Monday, in yet further distraction in The Sun, Gerry and Kate McCann’s unnamed “close pal” cryptically commented of their ongoing legal battle with the former Portuguese police officer Gonaclo Amaral:
“It drags on and on. They go one step forward then two two back. It’s caused them so much anguish over the years and they just want to draw a line under it.”
Missing Madeleine – Questions STILL without answers – The ultimate case of the distraction technique at work
Many questions about what happened on the evening of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann remain. Some that have been highlighted by the press and discussed online include:
Why did Kate McCann refuse to answer 48 questions put to her by the Portuguese police?
Why were certain records of phone calls on the evening of the disappearance “whoosh-clunked” from the memories of the phones of Mr and Mrs McCann and the ‘Tapas 7’?
Why did a British sniffer dog sense the smell of a corpse in a cupboard in the apartment from which Madeleine McCann disappeared?
Why did a sniffer dog also supposedly sense the smell of a corpse in a vehicle hired by the couple a month after the disappearance of their daughter?
Why did Mr and Mrs McCann go jogging and play tennis in the days after their daughter’s disappearance?
Was it acceptable for Mr and Mrs McCann’s mortgage to be paid by the fund established to search for their missing daughter?
A Distraction Disgrace – Christian Brueckner (AKA ‘Christian B’; pictured with his ex-girlfriend, Nakscije Miftari).A Distraction Disgrace – Goncalo Amaral claimed that he believed that the McCanns “accidentally killed” their daughter, Madeleine, in his 2008 book ‘The Truth of The Lie.’ Amaral has repeatedly won court actions brought against him by them.
Shockingly shared elsewhere on Facebook by the perpetrator heself, 32-year-old Merelize van der Merwe’s “wonderful husband paid £1,500 to make her five-year dream come true at a game park last Sunday,” the paper’s Sean Rayment reported.
Going further, the Mirror revealed: “She plans to use her 17-year-old victim’s skin as a rug – and posted her pic with the comment: ‘Ever wondered how big a giraffe’s heart is? I’m over the moon with my Valentines present!’”
In response to this shocking news, Elisa Allen of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals quite rightly concluded:
“One day, trophy hunting will be listed as a sign of a psychiatric disorder, as it should be today. It is grandiosity, serial killing, and bloodlust paired with a burning desire to show off.”
A Change.org petition seeking to ban self-proclaimed “public figure” van der Merwe from Facebook was started 4 years ago, but unlike The Steeple Times’ one seeking to achieve the same for fellow Donald Trump obsessive Larysa Switlyk on Instagram, attracted just 457 supporters and was closed.
Join the 17,100 people who’ve already signed a Change.org petition seeking to get ‘blue ticked’ bear slaying barbarian Larysa Switlyk banned from Instagram by clicking here. One seeking to achieve the same for Merelize van der Merwe on Facebook deserves to achieve a similar level of success.
Update: 22nd February 2020 – A petition seeking to ban Merelize van der Merwe from Facebook is now live on Change.org. Please sign it by clicking here.
Deranged deviant Merelize van der Merwe on…
Death threats
“So, after all these death threats from people sitting comfortably behind a computer 15,000 kilometers away, it made me realise one thing… I haven’t hunted enough! So, I’ll go hunt some more tonight!”
Mental disorders
“We have seen mental disorders grow especially with social media giving these people a voice and openly expressing unnatural hatred towards people they never met with Instagram and Facebook. We in the hunting industry I’m sure deals [sic] with more of these unstable people then the psychiatric ward itself.”
“So please next time if someone attacks you for hunting, just remind them they forgot their pills this morning and let’s get these people under control.”
Truth and poetry and hunting
“Truth is like poetry and most people f**king hate poetry… Same when it comes to hunting and conservation people only listen to what they want to hear and not the truth.”
Liberals
“It’s just these new age liberals who piss and moan and say hunting isn’t natural… You aren’t natural.”
Kenya
“Kenya has sold its soul to the devil, AKA animal rights activists.”
Prince Harry
“Soon he’ll be back in diapers.”
Donald Trump
“I love Trump because he pisses off all the people I can’t stand.”
“What a privilege it was to look up to a President and know how a President should run a country. Today many are heartbroken across the world.”
“I salute you President Trump. What a man you are and may God bless you on your next chapter in life.”
On those that opposed Trump
“Eat a bag of dicks you dirty f**king communists.”
Celebrating killing an elephant
“After the elephant was down I went to buy beer and gin for team motivation. The next day I looked like a red crab.”
Why she likes killing elephants
“Tell me how hunting [elephants] doesn’t benefit people and the ecosystem.”
How she feels after a “kill”
“I was like a child for two weeks, counting the days. Afterwards I was flooded with emotions.”
People who protect elephants
“Never underestimate the power of stupid.”
People who object to the vile images she shares on social media
“To the dumb f**k who tried to report my video, take this and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.”
“If you’re looking for a safe space, my page ain’t it… Move along, snowflake.”
Charity and hunting
“Charity is not sustainable, hunting is.”
Killing endangered species and conservation
“The only people protecting these animals are trophy hunters.”
Why she massacres endangered species
“In the end I’m nothing but yet another slave to this trade and a willing one too. The only time I find peace is living life on the edge. I firmly believe one is born like this and not made.”
“We will keep on fighting the animal rights mafia propaganda as hunting has proven sustainable for wildlife.”
“A day without blood is like a day without sunshine… Nature is not a Disney fairytale.”
Citrus farmer van der Merwe shared images of herself holding the giraffe’s heart and others preparing to butcher the poor slayed animal on her Facebook page.In a previous post, she showed an image of herself proudly posing covered in the blood of one of her victims.Just like her fellow massacring monster Larysa Switlyk, Merelize van der Merwe is a Donald Trump obsessive. The pair plainly need to get a room.Here, Merelize van der Merwe is pictured with an elephant she murdered.Another picture of the deranged deviant Merelize van der Merwe with a dead elephant and another of her victims.Merelize van der Merwe’s Facebook is peppered with her victims. Supposedly she’s “celebrated” over 500 kills including this unfortunate hippo.A lion she killed in the back of a truck.Leopards are amongst her favourite prey supposedly.This vile woman plainly will kill anything.Merelize van der Merwe and her husband Gerhardt with two more beautiful animals they senselessly slayed.The wicked witch Merelize van der Merwe must be stopped and just like Larysa Switlyk, she must be banned from social media.
As the Dallas Safari Club disgustingly auction off an “opportunity” to kill an endangered black rhino, we urge readers to support our petition to put a stop to their shameless poster girl Larysa Switlyk
This morning, the Mirror shared shocking news that a twisted member of the Dallas Safari Club paid £18,300 ($25,500, €21,000 or درهم93,600) at the weekend to kill an endangered black rhino with a tranquiliser gun.
Sickening beyond belief – and in pre-pandemic times a destination gathering point for members of the Trump clan and, of course, the sex-toy-up-the-bum-of-sheep-shover Larysa Switlyk – the Dallas Safari Club’s annual five day convention had to be held online this year. It still managed to attract 850 exhibitors and allegedly raised £2.5 million ($3.5 million, €2.9 million or درهم12.8 million).
According to the Mirror’s Nada Farhoud, amongst those involved were a firm named South African Infinito Safaris. They offered a “very specialised quest” to hunt “little beauties” including “timid ‘Tiny Ten’ springbok” – a group which includes the blue duiker, a species that is “dwindling due to a “massive rise in the demand of hunting them.”
Also on sale at this sickening anti-wildlife protection event were a pair of elephant skin earrings for £50 ($70, €57 or درهم256) and a £36 ($50, €41 or درهم184) hippo hide necklace.
Join the 16,800 people who’ve already signed a Change.org petition seeking to get ‘blue ticked’ bear slaying barbarian Larysa Switlyk banned from Instagram by clicking here.
Pictured top: In recent days harridan huntress Larysa Switlyk took to Instagram to share grossly offensive imagery of herself with a crocodile she killed on the Nile and a Bezoar Ibex she massacred also. She offered an ‘opportunity’ to kill one for £10,800 ($15,000, €12,300 or درهم55,100) in fall 2021 and fall 2022 in Turkey.
Diabolical in Dallas – Also on offer in the auction was a chance to kill a giraffe.Diabolical in Dallas – Bidders were given the chance to kill a puma too.Diabolical in Dallas – In January 2019, at a time before the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to them gathering in person, the Dallas Safari Club were able to meet to celebrate their sickness. Here, Larysa Switlyk is pictured with Donald Trump Jr. and his wack job girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle.
As it is revealed that the father of Stuart Lubbock, murdered in Michael Barrymore’s swimming pool in 2001, has terminal cancer, it is time that the disgraced entertainer finally told the truth
This morning, the Mirror exclusively revealed the extremely sad news that Terry Lubbock, the father of a 31-year-old who was murdered in a swimming pool at the home of Michael Barrymore in 2001, has terminal cancer.
“It’s a killer and I’m only going to be around for a few months. They can’t do anything about it, they say it has spread too far around my body.”
“We have got to get another inquest, then I will feel as though my job has been done. Then I can rest in peace.”
“I’ve given it my best shot, it’s taken me twenty years to start to get some kind of justice. I think it’s going to come.”
Last year, Essex Police and CrimeStoppers issued a new appeal for information at which time they stated: “19 years – still no justice; Help us get answers for Stuart; Someone knows.” Yesterday, going further, Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Jennings added:
“I believe that [Stuart] was raped and murdered that night. One or more of those party-goers are responsible for that serious sexual assault on Stuart Lubbock.”
“We remain committed to this investigation and continue to appeal for information leading to arrest and conviction in relation to the rape and murder of Stuart Lubbock.”
“Nine people went to the party at Michael Barrymore’s house, but only one of them – Stuart – ended up being violently sexually assaulted and murdered.”
“We know not everyone at that party was responsible for what happened, but someone was. We also know that not everyone at that party may know what happened, but someone does.”
“We want the people who do have information to come forward and talk to us – it is never too late to do the right thing and give the Lubbock family the answers and justice they have waited so long to have.”
Anyone with information can call the CrimeStoppers charity anonymously on 0800 555 111 or Essex Police on 101.
#justice4stuart
Pictured top: A drunken Michael Barrymore rolling around on the floor with the equally sozzled convicted racist bigot Marie-Claire, Baroness von Alvensleben and pictured also during a visit to a police station.
Justice for Stuart Lubbock – Father of two Stuart Lubbock had a bright life ahead of him when he was murdered. It is time justice was finally served on the person(s) responsible for his untimely murder.Justice for Stuart Lubbock – The scene of the murder of Stuart Lubbock – 4 Beaumont Park Drive, Roydon, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5HB.Justice for Stuart Lubbock – In 2020, Essex Police launched a fresh investigation into the murder of Stuart Lubbock in the wake of Channel 4’s ‘Barrymore: The Body In The Pool’ documentary.
Justice for Stuart Lubbock – The people who need to tell the truth about what happened at Michael Barrymore’s home on 31st March 2001
Michael Parker (AKA Michael Barrymore) – Allegedly loudly said: “I need a f**k” in a taxi as he left the Millennium Nightclub to return to his home, the scene of the death of Stuart Lubbock. Barrymore later lied to a coroner’s court about facilitating drug taking at his house on the night in question also. He claimed to have been first to have discovered the body of Stuart Lubbock at 5.45am, called his manager Mike Brown before the ambulance arrived and then left the premises. He admits that was “wrong” and also bizarrely told Piers Morgan that in spite of “knowing others were hiding secrets about what happened to Mr. Lubbock” that “I am not going to say their names. I just hope they are brave enough to come forward one day.”
Mike Brown – Agent of Michael Barrymore. Called to the property before emergency services arrived.
Kelly Campbell – Had met Michael Barrymore for the first time on the night of the incident. Claimed not to have been aware of what happened.
James Futters (sometimes spelt ‘Futers’) – A paper boy turned chef. Described as “a local from the village” and a “friend and neighbour of Barrymore.” Claimed to have been the first to discover the body with Simon Shaw and stated: “[It was not] Michael Barrymore and not Jonathan Kenney [who found him].” Later, of him the Evening Standard reported: “Barrymore offered James Futters a white powder on his finger saying: ‘Do you want to try this?’ Mr Futters told the inquest that he leaned forward and licked the powder.”
Claire Jones – Then aged 17. Had met Michael Barrymore for the first time on the night of the incident. Claimed not to have been aware of what happened but told the police that she “saw Barrymore rummaging through drawers and changing his clothes before police arrived. When he left the house, he had a ‘bundle of material’ under his arm,” according to the Evening Standard. “She added: ‘Jonathan (Kenney) was rushing through the bungalow before the ambulance and police arrived. I got the impression he was hiding something.’”
Jonathan Kenney – Estate agent, drag queen and Michael Barrymore’s then lover; later arrested on suspicion of murder but never charged; known for having a “record of violence.” Claimed to have been the first to have discovered the body.
Justin Merritt – A dustman from Essex. Later arrested on suspicion of murder but never charged. Later paid £30,000 by the News of the World for an interview in which he stated Barrymore had “rubbed cocaine on Stuart Lubbock’s lips shortly before he died.”
Kylie Merritt – Sister of Justin Merritt. She also alleged Barrymore “rubbed cocaine on Stuart Lubbock’s lips shortly before he died” (curiously in the wake of her brother selling his account of the night).
Simon Shaw – Described as “a local from the village.” Michael Barrymore supposedly “ran off” to Mr. Shaw’s house to “buy himself thinking time [for two hours] before he was questioned by the police [at 7.49am].”
In addition, others, who’ve never been identified could also have possibly been present. If they were, they should come forward or be named by those listed above.
Matthew Steeples joins those condemning the BBC for their balls-up in describing the now deceased murdering monster Phil Spector as “talented but flawed”
This morning on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, Emma Barnett quite rightly highlighted that the broadcaster she works for “got it wrong” yesterday in their initial reporting of the death of the convicted murderer Phil Spector.
Running a story minutes after this vile abuser and crazed killer’s demise was announced, the BBC lauded him by astoundingly declaring: “Talented but flawed producer Phil Spector dies aged 81.” Unsurprisingly, the corporation then found itself very deservedly slammed on social media for their crass and insensitive insult to this deranged lunatic’s innocent victims.
I, myself, later shared their tweet, but added a mocking caption that pointedly applied ‘Auntie’s’ thoughts to other equally vile deceased individuals. It read:
“Talented but flawed” gravedigger Peter Sutcliffe.
“Talented but flawed” TV manipulator Sir Jimmy Savile.
This BBC balls-up should now be reversed: Yesterday didn’t mark the death of someone who ought to be remembered as “talented but flawed.” It marked the death of the monstrous murderer of an innocent 40-year-old actress, model and charity volunteer with her whole life ahead of her, Lana Clarkson.
Pictured top: Megalomaniac murderer Harvey Phillip Spector (26th December 1939 – 16th January 2021) with his innocent victim, Lana Clarkson (5th April 1962 – 3rd February 2003). She is the one who deserves to be remembered fondly, not him.
Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.
"Talented but flawed" gravedigger Peter Sutcliffe. "Talented but flawed" TV manipulator Sir Jimmy Savile. "Talented but flawed" PR peddler Max Clifford. https://t.co/2YtP258Stc
The BBC got it entirely wrong in lauding the violent, psychological abuser and murderer Phil Spector as “talented but flawed” yesterday in their reporting of his death. They should be ashamed of this insult to slayed Lana Clarkson and his other victims – who also included his own children (who were “forced to perform sex acts with his girlfriend for his pleasure”) and various partners.Forgotten Victims, Remembered Killers – Media coverage of the 2007 murder Meredith Kercher in Italy focused more on the conviction and subsequent annulment of Amanda Knox that the 21-year-old victim. Equally, media coverage of the 2010 murder of Anni Dewani in South Africa focused on her husband’s possible involvement in her death more than her as 28-year-old victim.Another example of the BBC making an utter balls-up of reporting came in October 2020 when the corporation was subjected to a “backlash” after running a “tone-deaf” trailer for a four-part documentary film about the 2013 murder of Reeva Steenkamp in South Africa by her arrogant psycho Paralympic sprinter boyfriend Oscar Pistorius. Many criticised the BBC due to the fact that neither the trailer for the programme nor a tweet about it mentioned the innocent, slayed 29-year-old victim.In May 2017, the BBC was attacked for its “inappropriate and ghoulish” coverage of the death from lung cancer of the unrepentant convicted serial killer Ian Brady. Of reporting specifically on Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme, one Twitter user declared: “The BBC has made a serious editorial misjudgement.” Another slammed them for asking if this monster was “mad” or just “bad.” Twisted Brady (pictured here with his equally evil lover and co-conspirator Myra Hindley) never revealed where he buried his last child victim, a 12-year-old schoolboy named Keith Barnett, and this innocent boy’s mother was thus never able to give her son a dignified burial before she then died herself
‘The Steeple Times’ chooses the 25 best and 25 worst people of the last year and the 25 who’ll be missed and the 25 who won’t
Happy New Year to all our readers. Our ‘Heroes & Villains’ list was well received in 2019 and as we move into 2021, we join all celebrating ‘good riddance’ to the monstrous mess that was 2020.
Whilst many bombed, most especially Dominic Cummings and Donald Trump in the sphere of politics, for example, the likes of the heroic footballer Marcus Rashford and his campaign for free school meals for poor children showed that even a footballer can make a difference in a pandemic.
HEROES OF 2020
Obvious heroes of the year: Jacinda Ardern for being a leader capable of acting with good sense, Captain Sir Thomas Moore for raising £32 million for the NHS, Lord Sumption for arguing for lockdown liberty and Joe Wicks for keeping the nation healthy and turning down a £2 million deal with a supermarket.
WINNER – Bob Grace
Eternally cheerful groom Bob Grace led out his first winner after 38 years of racing at Royal Ascot in June when his trusty steed Battaash romped home in the King’s Stand. He raised the spirits of the nation and of this humble hero, one Twitter user concluded: “Bob is wonderful, be like Bob.”
Emily Bolton
One of “Britain’s most powerful civil rights lawyers,” Emily Bolton boldly fought for the likely wrongly convicted ‘Freshwater Five’ fisherman in 2020. She is tenacious and dedicated and a force for genuine good.
Steve Cotton
Alongside his cat named Hitler as his barman, “Britain’s grumpiest landlord” proved the spirit of Victor Meldrew was well and truly still alive in 2020. Summing up his approach to business and life in general, Steve Cotten remarked:
“I just make it up as I go along. I might not know how to run a pub but I know what’s wrong with every pub I’ve ever been in. There’s no landlord anywhere, nobody talks to each other. I involve the whole community – everyone knows it’s not my pub, it’s everybody’s pub… We are a dark and cold and miserable boozer – and that’s what people like about it.”
“They all know you can do what you want here, use it for what you want, come here on your own at any time of the day or night and help yourself to a tea or coffee. Everybody will talk to everybody… You can discuss any topic under the sun here, nothing is taboo… Everyone has a go serving behind the bar, we all have a laugh and everyone joins in… No one else talks to them like crap like I do.”
Bilkis Dadi (real name: Bilkis Bano)
This 82-year-old crusader and anti-Modi protester became the “voice of the marginalised” in India in 2020 and was escorted away from the farmers’ protest by the police. This heroine was included in Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year and remarked: “We will not stand for this division.”
Alfie Diaper
Ten-year-old “little star” Alfie Diaper recovered from a ruptured spleen in 2019 and “came back fighting” with riding successes in 2020. One Scottish reader of The Steeple Times quite rightly termed this pint-sized hero a “talented, spirited wee soul.”
Julia Donaldson
The author of The Gruffalo went down in literary history as the biggest seller of the last decade in any genre in 2020 and now sells a book about every 11 seconds. JK Rowling did not even make the top five.
Hollie Doyle
Whilst she was ridiculously robbed of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2020 and came third, Hollie Doyle amazingly scored 151 wins in 2020. She also broke another record in becoming the first woman to win five races on a card at Windsor and our money is on her to become a hero of 2021 too.
Alain Ducasse
In January, Alain Ducasse spoke complete sense is echoing Iris Apfel’s “more is more and less is a bore” mantra. This culinary remarked: “I’ve noted [the Dry January] trend, but I don’t want to see or hear of it, I am opposed to it… “[I want to] rid consumers of their inhibitions [with regard to wine drinking].”
Lord Fowler
The Lord Speaker of the House of Lords quite rightly argued “there are too many Lords” in December. He added: “As we have just seen, its recommendations can be overridden by No 10. The result is that a prime minister has the power on his or her own to add peers to a house of parliament that can make and, within limits, unmake laws. Is this what the public expect in the third decade of the 21st century?”
Bryony Frost
Rising-star jockey Bryony Frost became the first woman ever to win the King George VI at Kempton on Boxing Day. This true heroine of the year is undoubtedly going to break many other glass ceilings in 2021.
Lady Glenconner
The former lady-in-waiting to the late Princess Margaret declared of coronavirus: ““I’ve been through the second world war and lived with someone with Aids at the beginning [of the Aids crisis]. I’m not scared of a little virus, you know.”
Agnes Gund (AKA ‘Aggie’)
A “put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is” philanthropist, Agnes Gund was described as “the last good rich person” by the New York Times in 2018 and in 2020 used money from the sale of one the most valuable artworks from her collection, a Roy Lichtenstein worth £120 million, to fund US prison reform. She has also given more than 900 significant works to the Museum of Modern Art in New York in the last 50 years.
Anders Holch Povlsen
Asos billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen led the way in rewilding in 2020. He also paid back the government £300,000 of furlough money during the year voluntarily and thus made a mockery of the likes of Sir Richard Branson and Sir Philip Green.
Patrick Hutchinson
Compassionate “fitness buff” Patrick Hutchinson carried an injured far-right racist protestor to his safety in spite of being himself black in June. Sensibly, he remarked: “Living with the image of a man being beaten to death isn’t something I could stomach. How do the police do that? They just seemed to be standing there watching it and filming with their selfie sticks. One of them said ‘well done’ to me, but I couldn’t really comprehend it.”
Jeremy King
The co-owner of The Wolseley rightly slammed Boris Johnson repeatedly during 2020. He rightly described lockdown Tier 2 coronavirus restrictions as “another knee jerk, ineffective, window-dressing, butt-covering initiative that hasn’t been thought through properly.”
Abdulkareem Musa Adam
This child refugee from a war zone in Darfur shone at Royal Ascot 2020. Accompanied by Shadn, this 22-year-old’s story was described by Clare Balding as “[showing] the incredible power of sport to bring people together and help them to heal, even after the most appalling suffering.”
Dolly Parton
In 2020, Dolly Parton gave £733,000 to fund a COVID-19 vaccine. The Guardian rightly said of her: “She understands that money is something you do, rather than something you have.”
Sister Norma Pimentel
Described as the “pope’s favourite nun,” Sister Norma Pimentel featured on Time magazine’s “100 most influential people of 2020” list. She has supported over 100,000 people seeking refuge at the border between Texas and Mexico and of her Julián Castro, former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, remarked: “Sister Pimentel will keep changing the world, one act of kindness at a time.”
Dr. Ugur Sahin and Dr. Özlem Türeci
The “dream team” husband-and-wife team behind the leading vaccine to solve COVID-19 were amongst the ultimate healthcare heroes of 2020.
MacKenzie Scott
The ex-wife of Jeff Bezos gave £4.3 billion of her fortune to charity during 2020. In doing so, she became one of the biggest single donors to charity in a single year ever.
Santosh Shah
He didn’t win, but the unlikely star of MasterChef Professionals 2020 was this Nepali chef. He was eternally positive and widely lauded as the “people’s champion.”
Shirley Sherwood OBE
Britain’s leading botanist, after losing her tycoon husband at the age of 87, has become an unlikely star of Facebook with her videos sharing positivity and her passion for plants. She has rightly been described as the “driving force behind a revival of interest in botanical art.”
Micheline Stephen
A martini drinking 90-year-old and Dame Maggie Smith-lookalike, Micheline Stephen fought off a burglar and told him: “You’re a wee shite” in 2020.
‘Window Twerky’
Spotted on both the Fulham Road and Kings in Chelsea, this unknown woman amused many with her maniac moves during Lockdown 1.0. Her Fifty Shades of Crazy antics during that Strictly insane time were batshit bonkers but brilliant.
Tobias Weller (AKA ‘Captain Tobias’)
This heroic 9-year-old with cerebral palsy and autism raised over £150,000 for a children’s hospital during Lockdown 1.0 by completing marathons. He remarked: “It feels amazing to have completed both marathons. I feel fantastic. Thank you for clapping and cheering me every step of the way. You are all awesome. I love doing challenges so who knows what will be around the next corner?”
VILLAINS OF 2020
Previous list makers, but repeat offenders included Sir Philip Green, Sir Richard Branson, Tim Martin, Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson, Darren Grimes, David Starkey, Sir Cliff Richard, Prince Andrew, Matt Hancock, Ghislaine Maxwell, Larysa Switlyk, Liz Hurley, Owen Jones, Richard Madeley, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Michael Barrymore, Vivienne Westwood, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump and Ferne McCann, but our winner just had to be:
WINNER – Priti Patel
When she wasn’t “minglin’” and “movin’” and misusing the English language, Priti Patel was angling for a return to the death penalty in the UK in 2020. Asked what kept her going in 2020, when even Emily Thornberry declared “gin,” the most awful Home Secretary in generations ridiculously responded: “Showing the perpetrators of crime that they have nowhere to hide and joining our police on early morning raids – reminding the criminals that we’re coming after them.”
James Abbott-Thompson
The son of calculator lacking Diane Abbott MP appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in January after “spitting at a police officer and biting his colleague.” He’d previously exposed himself on a hospital ward and had crystal meth delivered to his mother’s £1.2 million home.
Victoria Baker Harber and Inigo Philbrick
Though ‘Mini Madoff’ Inigo Philbrick was deservedly was dragged to the clink by the FBI in June and remains in custody, his latest ‘baby mama,’ Victoria Baker Harber, couldn’t keep her almightily large trap shut. Shortly afterwards, she turned on one of his many victims, Kenny Schacter, and crudely tweeted: “Are you crying about cash or cock?”
Brian Basham
Bombastic PR peddler Brian Basham didn’t manage to get the mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell out of jail in 2020. In response he angrily ranted to his friends at the Daily Mail and called Finding Ghislaine podcast host John Sweeney a drunk and someone he “despises.”
Scott Borgerson (AKA ‘Scott Marshall’ and ‘Mr Ghislaine Maxwell’)
This tech company CEO was revealed to be Ghislaine Maxwell’s “secret husband” in December. He then tried and thankfully failed to use their millions to get her out on bail in time for Christmas.
Benjamin Clark
After attacking the Winston Churchill statue in Parliament Square in September, son of a pastor Benjamin Clark deservedly got fined. His solicitor’s attempts to try to defend him quite rightly fell on deaf ears.
Lizzie Cundy
Desperate-and-will-do-anything-for-attention Lizzie Cundy, 52, turned coronavirus into a photo opportunity in a bikini made out of face masks in October. For her, nothing isn’t worth using for self-publicity.
Ellen DeGeneres
The wheels fell off for goody two shoes Ellen DeGeneres when she was shown to be anything but nice. Her attempt at an apology for allowing workplace bullying was mocked as “underwhelming.”
Alan Dershowitz
Having defended multiple rapist Harvey Weinstein in 2018, Alan Dershowitz went one stage further in 2020 when he leapt to the defence of Ghislaine Maxwell and trashed the reputations of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein.
Tamara Ecclestone Rutland (AKA ‘Miss Piggy’)
Banshee-like billionairess Tamara Ecclestone Rutland appeared on ITV1’s This Morning in April. This daughter of a man whom once disgustingly described Hitler as someone who “was able to get things done” pestered people far poorer than her to donate to the NHS. Of this shameless attention seeker, a Twitter user remarked: “No offence but this feature on #ThisMorning is embarrassing. Trying to raise £1m but they have a family net worth of almost £4bn? Good publicity stunt though…”
Charlie Elphicke and Natalie Elphicke OBE MP
Ex-MP turned sexual predator and “Naughty Tory” Charlie Elphicke and his replacement MP wife Natalie got caught out after urging fellow parliamentarians to pester the judiciary after he got sent down. She was also very nasty about immigrants.
Laurence Fox
Actor Laurence Fox morphed from a housewives favourite and telly box treasure into a tedious twerp in 2020. His Reclaim Party became a laughing stock online and his decision to tattoo “freedom” and “space” on his hands was mocked unsurprisingly.
Mark Francois MP
This tedious Tory was pilloried online when he “disappeared” after an MP was accused of rape. He returned just-in-time to bang on and bore about the brilliance of Brexit in December. We can only hope he’ll “disappear” again in 2021.
Art fraudster Angela Gulbenkian attempted to flee to Portugal to escape going on trial in June. She was quite rightly extradited back to the UK and victims including Percy Bass of Walton Street should finally get justice against this blonde bimbo in 2021.
Julia Hartley-Brewer (AKA ‘Julia Heartless-Brouhaha’)
She’s awful every year without a doubt and will never be a hero to anyone, but in ignorantly defending a right-wing thug who’d relieved himself on a memorial to murdered constable Keith Palmer, this tedious twerp made a total prat of herself. In response, one Twitter user asked her: “Why do you as a woman think it is ok for a bloke to expose himself by getting his dick out and urinating in a public place?”
Michael Heaver
In blubbering like a baby after Nigel Farage failed to make the New Year’s Honours List, “milk bottle white” Westmonster co-owner Michael Heaver again showed himself as just one thing: “A remarkably unpleasant child.”
Lady Victoria Hervey (AKA ‘Toff Totty Vicky’)
Accurately described by the late Tara Palmer-Tomkinson as “unpleasant” and “a right snob,” dimwitted dope Lady Victoria Hervey defended Prince Andrew in 2019 and then stated: “Fuck BLM [Black Lives Matter]” in 2020 on her Instagram page. The world hope she remains silent in 2021.
Eamonn Holmes
Crackpot conspiracy theorist Eamonn Holmes morphed into the David Icke of 2020 when he declared that the “mainstream media’ was hiding a link between 5G technology and coronavirus. Him and his wife were unsurprisingly subsequently dropped from their weekly presenting roles on ITV1’s This Morning.
Dr. Walter Palmer (AKA ‘The Driller Killer’)
Having slayed ‘Cecil the Lion’ in 2015, deranged dentist Dr. Walter Palmer returned to his barbaric ways when he massacred an endangered ram in July 2020. Though he claims to be “looking forward” to his next “adventure,” one can only hope that this monster meets a sticky end in 2021.
Stephanie Pratt (AKA ‘Shady Steph’)
One-time crystal meth addict demanded shoplifters be shot in May 2020 on Twitter. Unfortunately for her, the public were on hand to remind her she’d been arrested for stealing a £1,000 of clothing from Neiman Marcus in May 2006.
Phillip Schofield
Aside from “claiming to have been murdered in a past life because of a debt” in October, Phillip Schofield attempted to rival Sir Cliff Richard and launched quite possibly the most loathed collection of boxed wines ever in September. What a plonker!
Carrie Symonds (AKA ‘Carrie Not On Regardless’ and ‘The Duchess of Downing Street’)
Boris Johnson’s wine chucking puppet mistress proved herself to be a total busybody in 2020. Despite not being elected herself, that the PM’s latest ‘baby mama’ got her own cronies into Downing Street during the year was a total disgrace.
Alexandra Tolstoy
Miserable moaning Minnie Alexandra Tolstoy bleated about not being able to live on £10,000 per week before getting £606,000 for a few of her possessions in a Christie’s auction in November. Loopy to her core, she remarked: “We’re just surviving.”
Dominic West
Aside from being caught kissing actress Lily James in October, actor Dominic West got caught breaching social distancing rules on a shoot in Wiltshire in December. He also claimed to have “jumped for joy” when he found out Donald Trump had coronavirus.
Heroes & Villains 2020 – Lizzie Cundy (left) and Inigo Philbrick and Victoria Baker Harber (right) – Examples of the worst people of 2020 without a doubt.
THOSE WHO’LL BE MISSED
Sadly, many great people were lost in 2020 and amongst those most widely mentioned were Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Honor Blackman, Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant, Jack Charlton, Sir Sean Connery, Des O’Connor, Kirk Douglas, George Floyd, Dame Olivia de Havilland, Eddie Van Haylen, Irrfan Khan, Dame Vera Lynn, Diego Maradona, David Prowse, Gene Reynolds, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sachs, Jackie Stallone, Larry Tesler and Bill Withers.
WINNER – John le Carré (born David Cornwell)
Having sensibly summed up Donald Trump’s election and the banality of Brexit, novelist John le Carré died from pneumonia aged 89 in December. Of his passing, his agent Johnny Geller remarked: “[He was] an undisputed giant of English literature. He defined the cold war era and fearlessly spoke truth to power in the decades that followed… We will not see his like again.”
Michael Angelis
Liverpudlian actor Michael Angelis brought happiness to many. He was the narrator of Thomas & Friends for 21 years and also appeared in Bergerac and Z-Cars. He died in May aged 76.
Lady Elizabeth Anson CVO (married named Lady Elizabeth Shakerley)
This first cousin-once-removed of Queen Elizabeth II was “discreet and professional.” She observed that “the very rich, the very idle, the very busy and the ones who simply haven’t a clue what to do” didn’t have the skills to organise events, so set up a party planning business. She died in November aged 79.
Sir Terence Conran
Multi-skilled and described as “the most passionate man in Britain when it comes to design,” Sir Terence Conran died in September aged 88. He once remarked: “It’s thrilling as a designer when you see something you’ve designed and built actually being used. Seeing a shop filled with people, or a restaurant with people smiling away happily, it’s like, gosh, all my dreams have come true.”
Alan Davidson
This legendary newspaper photographer captured stars at play from 1969 until his death in March aged 70. Of him, the Daily Mail’s Richard Kay remarked: “No event was off limits to Alan.”
Sir Harold Evans
Described in an obituary in the Guardian as “the most admired newspaper of his generation,” Sir Harold Evans died aged 92 in September. He will be best remembered for exposing Robert Maxwell as a fraudster and Kim Philby as a traitor. In doing so, he became the first editor to order a D-notice and summing him up, here was someone who’ll be remembered as someone “loved by his staff.”
Lynn Faulds Wood
The wife of fellow television presenter John Stapleton was best known for co-hosting the BBC’s Watchdog with him. She died after a stroke in April aged 72.
Derek Fowlds
Affable actor Derek Fowlds was best known for his roles in Yes Minister and The Basil Brush Show. He died as a result of complications from pneumonia in January aged 82.
Desmond Guinness
Brewing heir Desmond Guinness was an author and expert on Georgian architecture. He will be remembered as a “great dandy of his generation” and saved countless buildings from the wrecking balls of property developers. He died in August aged 88.
John Hays
Having doubled his workforce and saved thousands of jobs when him and his wife bought Thomas Cook in 2019, “high street hero” John Hays died suddenly at his offices in November aged 71. He considered his workers “family” and laughed off people comparing him to a “country bumpkin.”
Shere Hite (born Shirley Gregory)
Twice married sex educator and feminist Shere Hite renounced her US citizenship in 1995, was briefly stateless and then became German. She posed in the nude for Playboy whilst at university and died of corticobasal degeneration in September aged 77.
Thomas Hoare (AKA ‘Mad Mike Hoare’)
This fervently anti-communist British mercenary leader died in February having led campaigns in the Congo and a failed “package-holiday coup” in the Seychelles. Of him, his son remarked: “Mike Hoare lived by the philosophy that you get more out of life by living dangerously, so it is all the more remarkable that he lived more than 100 years.”
Tony Hooper
A founder member of the Strawbs, singer and guitarist Tony Hooper died in December aged 81. He left the band after argument over whether they should be more folk or rock in 1972 and became an educational author and book jacket designer in the 1990s.
Knut Kloster
With a name that sounded like a brand of breakfast cereal, “visionary” cruise line king Knut Kloster died in September aged 91. He was best known for co-founding the hugely successful Norweigan Caribbean Line in 1966, but his attempt to build a “world peace boat” eventually came to nothing.
Sir Stirling Moss OBE
“Who do you think you are? Stirling Moss?” will go down in history as a much-quoted punchline of policemen, but this racing driver will be remembered for two other quotes also: “If God had meant for us to walk, why did he give us feet that fit car pedals?” and “There are two things no man will admit he cannot do well: drive and make love.” He died in April aged 90 having survived falling down the lift shaft of his Mayfair home in 2010.
Geoffrey Palmer OBE
As Time Goes By star Geoffrey Palmer died in November aged 93. Of him, his co-star Dame Judi Dench concluded: “Geoffrey was master of comedy.”
Julia Peatling
This Stockwell based medical secretary loved a gin and tonic at PJ’s on Fulham Road and her Downton Abbey star dog, Poppy.
Margarita Pracatan (born Margarita Figueroa)
Cuban novelty singer Margarita Pracatan, who died in June in New York aged 89, was best-known for performing on Clive James’ television show Saturday Night Clive in the 1990s. Of her, he remarked: “She never lets the words or melody get in her way. She is us, without the fear of failure.”
Carl Reiner
Born in The Bronx, actor, author and comedian Carl Reiner joined Twitter at the ripe old age of 90 in 2012. Two days before he passed in June, he tweeted: “Nothing pleases me more than knowing that I have lived the best life possible by having met and marrying the gifted Estelle (Stella) Lebost – who partnered with me in bringing Rob, Annie & Lucas Reiner into to this needy & evolving world.”
Michael Russell
“Publisher, wit and author” Michael Russell was the creator of the spoof memoirs of J. R. Hartley, he of Yellow Pages fame. He also published Richard Spitzy’s How We Squandered the Reich – a book that described Hitler as being “like a cross between a head waiter and a chimney sweep.”
James Sherwood
Buccaneering American businessman James Sherwood revived the Orient Express, built up a chain of hotels and created the Sea Containers empire. He died in May aged 86 having once been stranded at 16,000 feet in the Andes with Princess Michael of Kent after his helicopter had to make an emergency landing.
Barbara Smoker
This “promoter of many causes now take for granted” died in April. Barbara Smoker will be best remembered for saying: “Don’t always be obedient. Obedience is overrated. You’ve got to work out your morality for yourself, not do everything you’re told. Obedience can be more of a vice than a virtue.”
Alexandra Sykes (born Alexandra Sotomayer)
The third wife of businessman Mark Sykes was vivacious and bubbly. “Wise and kind” Alexandra Sykes loved to keep fit and at a party, hers was always the liveliest voice in the room.
Helen Taylor-Thompson OBE
After having worked as a spy in occupied France in the Second World War as part of Churchill’s “secret army,” Helen Taylor-Thompson co-founded Europe’s first AIDS hospice. She died in September aged 96.
Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath
Polygamous Lord Bath was as famed for his ‘wifelets’ as he was for his erotically styled paintings. He played an aristocrat in the 1987 video for the Pet Shop Boys song ‘Rent’ and died of COVID-19 in April aged 87.
The late Margarita Pracatan is exactly the kind of person we could do with now.
THOSE WHO WON’T BE MISSED
WINNER – Peter Sutcliffe (AKA ‘The Yorkshire Ripper’)
This evil HGV driver claimed he’d “heard voices that ordered him to kill prostitutes while working as a gravedigger” as an excuse for slaughtering at least 13 women and attempting to murder 7 more between 1975 and 1980. He died as a result of complications from COVID-19 in November.
Tariq Aziz
Saddam Hussein’s principal spokesman died in June aged 79. He had been found guilty of “deliberate murder and crimes against humanity” in October 2010.
Donato Bilancia (AKA ‘The Liguria Monster’ and ‘The Killer on the Trains’)
This Italian serial killer murdered 17 people between October 1997 and April 1998 on the Italian Riviera. A compulsive gambler with a passionate hatred for night watchmen and sex workers, Bilancia died of COVID-19 in Due Palazzi prison in Padua in December.
George Blake
This remorseless British MI6 officer turned double agent for Soviet Union believed he was not a traitor and once remarked: “To betray, you first have to belong. I never belonged.” He died on Boxing Day having caused the deaths of at least 40 British agents in Russia as a result of his treachery.
Alfred Bourgeois
This trucker molested and murdered his 2-year-old daughter and then joked about it. He was given a lethal injection of pentobarbital in December at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Anthony Casso (AKA ‘Gaspipe’)
An American mobster and serial killer considered a “homicidal maniac.” He confessed involvement in upto 36 murders and was imprisoned for 455 years in 1998. Casso died from complications related to COVID-19 in December.
Brian Daniels
A bus driver turned paedophile serial rapist, Daniels was approaching the end of an 18-year sentence for attacks on four young girls in May when it was discovered he had further victims. He died in prison in October having remarked: “I did something against kids and I was punished. I don’t deserve to live. My final punishment will be death.”
Roy Den Hollander
This American lawyer shot himself in July after being made a suspect in the murder of fellow lawyer Marc Angelucci in California and the son of Judge Salas in New Jersey earlier that month. He had been a member of the National Coalition for Men, but after being kicked out called them “wimps and whiners.”
Terry Dicks (AKA ‘Phil’)
Possibly the most bigoted ex-Conservative MP ever, Dicks termed Nelson Mandela a “black terrorist” and ridiculed a Somali refugee family buying water in a supermarket by saying “where they come from they’re happy to drink out of puddles.” He referenced himself as a “spastic” due to his cerebal palsy and said of an Observer journalist sentenced to death by his hero Saddam Hussein: “He deserved to be hanged.” He loathed gay people and was nicknamed ‘Phil’ – for “elevating Philistinism to an art form.”
Vikas Dubey
An Indian gangster and history-sheeter turned murderer, Dubey was “killed” in July after “the police vehicle carrying him met with an accident and overturned.” He snatched a pistol from a policeman trying to fix a flat tyre, tried to run away and was then shot by another officer.
Scott Erskine
This American serial killer and rapist was responsible for the death of at least 3 child victims. He died in July after contracting COVID-19 in July.
Lonnie Franklin (AKA ‘The Grim Sleeper’)
This LA born serial killer committed at least 10 murders between 1984 and 2007. The majority of his victims were black women.
Dustin Honken
This serial killer was responsible for the murders of 3 adults and 2 children in Iowa in 1993. Before being executed in July, his last words were: “Hail Mary, Mother of God, pray for me.”
William LeCroy
This former soldier murdered a woman he believed was a witch in Georgia in 2001. He never showed any remorse for his actions and his last words were to his “spiritual adviser.” He remarked: “Sister Battista is about to receive in the postal service my last statement.”
Daniel Lewis Lee
This American white supremacist murdered a gun dealer and his family in Arkansas in 1996. He claimed to be innocent until the end.
Samuel Little
An American serial killer responsible for the deaths of at least 60 women, Little claimed to have killed as many as 93 between 1971 and 1997. He died in a Los Angeles County area hospital in December.
John Lowe (AKA ‘Keepers Cottage Stud Murderer’)
This puppy farm owner fatally shot his partner and her daughter in February 2014. He claimed he wanted them “put down” and himself died in a hospice in August.
Ba Ag Moussa
A Malian militant and jihadist, Moussa was shot and killed by French Armed Forces in November.
Roy Norris (AKA ‘The Toolbox Killer’)
Along with Lawrence Bittaker, Norris kidnapped, raped, tortured 5 teenage girls in 1979 in Southern California with pliers, ice picks and sledgehammers. He died of natural causes in February.
Abel Ochoa
High on crack, Ochoa killed five members of his family and tried to justify it due to being “intoxicated and in a delirium.” His final words were: “I would like to thank God, my dad, my Lord Jesus savior for saving me and changing my life. I want to apologise to my in-laws for causing all this emotional pain. I love y’all and consider y’all my sisters I never had. I want to thank you for forgiving me.”
Gordon Pinkerton
An RAF serviceman turned child abuser, Pinkerton sexually abused 6 young girls between 1963 and 2011. He was jailed in 2013 and died of coronavirus in prison in April.
Wesley Ira Purkey (AKA ‘The Claw Hammer Killer’)
Executed by lethal injection in July, Purkey raped and killed a teenager in 1998 and beat an 80-year-old to death with a claw hammer later that year.
Omar Sadiq (AKA ‘Roger’)
This Glasgow gangster and racial hatred inciter was killed by two of his associates in September. A floral tribute at the location of his shooting read: “Absolutely devastated. There was a better plan for you.”
Cathy Smith
This Canadian backup singer injected Saturday Night Live’s John Belushi with a fatal dose of heroin and cocaine in 1982. She died in August and had received a further drugs conviction in 1991 after serving 15 months between December 1986 and March 1988 for involuntary manslaughter.
Howie Winter
This mobster and leader of the Winter Hill Gang was implicated in a number of slayings in the 1960s and 1970s, but never charged. Of his demise in November aged 91, Thomas Foley, a retired Massachusetts State Police colonel, remarked: “It’s the end of a legend, but not a good legend… He is a guy that actually got away with murder.”
Pictured top: Winning Villain of 2020 Priti Patel and winning Hero of 2020 Bob Grace.
Creosoted creatures turned “vexed visitors” Keith and Catherine Larkham complain to a local newspaper about the public being “murderers in the making” in a park in Lytham, Lancashire
Included on the site yesterday, “David Dickinson coloured” Keith and “David Dickinson coloured” Catherine Larkham of Preston, Lancashire contacted the Lytham St Annes News to “express their disbelief” about the public “basically [becoming] murderers” by not wearing masks to walk round an outdoor area in Lytham St Annes – a Tier 3 town they travelled 20 miles to for a stroll in the middle of a pandemic.
In a rambling Ronseal ripped rant, Mr and Mrs Larkham – whom have previously risked infecting others by travelling during 2020 to and from Spain – bizarrely went to extraordinary lengths to tell the paper’s ‘community contributor’:
“Our stroll around Fairhaven Lake turned into an avoid everybody exercise… We could not believe what we were seeing… We just want know as we were visitors to Lytham and Fairhaven Lake at the weekend why out of literally thousands of people in and around this area, nobody and we mean nobody were [sic] wearing masks. We have endured lockdowns in Spain for weeks and months fully policed by the armed forces and successfully adhered to, but in Lytham not even a police officer anywhere to challenge all these people who are basically murderers in the making. SO PLEASE can anyone explain why??”
Unsurprisingly, the reaction by members of the Facebook group to this pair of prized pillocks was anything but supportive. Equally, given wearing masks is not compulsory outdoors, Lytham St Annes News and Keith and Catherine Larkham deserve to be equally saluted for the ultimate non-news story of 2020.
Morons of the Moment – Keith and Catherine Larkham – The couple’s penchant for tanning beds or sitting outside for too long on the ‘Costa Del Crime’ were widely mocked by members of the ‘Angry People in Local Newspapers’ Facebook group.Morons of the Moment – Keith and Catherine Larkham – The couple’s missive to the ‘Lytham St Annes News’ attracted 143 comments on the Facebook group ‘Angry People in Local Newspapers’ within just 10 hours. Their “highly essential journey from Spain” was mocked and their “proportionate and sensible reaction” was called out as anything but a “good use of time.”Morons of the Moment – Keith and Catherine Larkham – The duo were mocked as “a good advert for Ronseal Medium Oak fence paint” and compared to Frank and Pat Butcher of ‘Eastenders’ by one commentator. Another referenced the “mahogany carvings” as “lifelike” and most amusingly one Andrea Richter called the Larkhams “melanoma dodging, Brexit voting boomers.”
Latest PR spin from anonymous “friend” of Gerry and Kate McCann is plainly simply part of yet another attempt to get more cash to top up the £12 million already wasted
Just as ‘Operation Grange’ is no doubt about to need a further input of wonga-wonga to top up the £12 million plus pointlessly thrown at it so far, “friends” of Gerry and Kate McCann have returned to PR spinning and are now describing the investigation into Christian Brueckner to be “beyond bizarre.”
Featured in the Mirror this morning, the unnamed “friend” in question claimed the McCanns cannot understand what is going on with the German suspect and anonymously remarked:
“Any police force or prosecuting chief should not be boasting… but should be remaining silent as in the case of the Met Police.”
“They should… not be suggesting that members of the public would be reaching the same conclusion as they do about the suspect if they knew the evidence they had. It is beyond bizarre and not very helpful to the investigation.”
“If Mr Wolters [the German prosecutor] has got any significant evidence we cannot understand why the key suspect is not being questioned.”
“If the prosecutors are intent that Brueckner is a genuine person of interest to be questioned and possibly charged over Madeleine’s disappearance, why has this action not been taken.”
“If they think he is a red herring and had no involvement they should say so, instead of playing games, because the real culprit could be out there and escaping any scrutiny.”
Responding on the Facebook group ‘The Madeleine McCann Controversy,’ one of 36,500 members, Lisa Jeynes, quite rightly remarked: “Good PR from Kate and Gerry. Or are they getting cold feet?”
