JERSEYS' TWO FACED COPS

Dear Readers, 

         Being unfamiliar with that picturesque island of 

MIKE BOWRON

Jersey in the Channel Islands I thought the States of Jersey Police(Moto: Making Jersey Safer) would be very helpful in my efforts to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death of my son Simon Abbott.

How wrong I was. Simon, who had lived on the island for 20 years, died last year aged 47. All the indications are that the heart attack that killed him was brought on by the stress of being relentlessly cyber-bullied in the last two years of his life (See my post did-cyber-bullies-kill-simon-abbott)

Here I was sitting in South Africa, half a world away thinking that Police Chief Mike Bowron would be the right person to contact.

         Simon’s problems began after he set up the Samantha Abbott Trust in memory of his sister to help women suffering from postnatal depression. This was what caused Samantha’s suicide in 2009.

         He had plenty of unusual charity, money making ideas, but it seems that because he had never done this kind of thing before his inexperience resulted in one failure after another. After his first few schemes didn’t work the following ones had no chance because by then the island’s cyber-bullies had warned everyone off by accusing of him being a con man without any evidence to support this allegation.

        

NORTON

The best known names among the bullies were Murray Norton a BBC Jersey Radio presenter for many years and a substantial charity fund organiser. His bullying partner was his freelance photographer friend Ian le Sueur, who was also a member of the National Union of Journalists. He arranged for Le Sueur to snatch a picture of Simon, which Le Sueur then used to further malign Simon on social media by calling him a con man and making out he was generally dishonest.

SHADY LE SEUER

         Norton’s boss Jon Gripton, the Managing Editor of Radio Jersey had this to say about my son, We investigated some of the ‘Simon Abbott saga’ – however we decided against broadcast, partly because we were advised that the States of Jersey Police was investigating and partly because we thought this was more likely a tragic story of a grief-stricken, well-meaning individual who ultimately couldn’t deliver the events he dreamed up.

          Below is part of a letter sent in July this year to Bowron by Rico Sorda one of Jersey’s many anti- establishment blogggers (ricosorda.blogspot.com)                
       

                                                                          

          He and particularly his wife have been getting the same kind of cyber-bullying treatment as my son got. The bully in this case is Jon Sharrock Haworth, a 44 year old convicted petty criminal who has been used by the establishment to do its dirty work. He now appears to be protected game. Here's the gist of one episode revealed in Britian's parliament because Jersey's Data Protection law prevented it from being disclosed on the Island.

SYVRET A FORMER MINISTER OF HEALTH WAS
FORCED OUT OF THE JERSEY PARLIAMENT
FOR GETTING TOO CLOSE TO EXPOSING THE
SKULDUGGERY OF SOME TOP PEOPLE

         As you will see from my earlier experience with Bowron which I will tell you about below he runs true to form protecting certain people connected to Jersey’s elite. Sorda got much the same dismissive treatment from Bowron as I got.  

ANOTHER EXTRACT FROM SORDA'S LETTER
TO BOWRON

               In an email I sent in October last year I put six questions to Bowron and he replied through his Deputy Barry Taylor.

         He confirmed that Simon had made two complaints to the Police about being cyber-bullied, but legal opinion was that no offence had been committed. He refused to name the individuals Simon claimed to be involved as he maintained I am unable to provide details of third parties to you under the Data Protection Law.

         This is a notorious piece of legislation that the authorities in Jersey use to cover a multitude of sins.

         At one stage it was given to me by an ambulance official as a reason why he couldn’t name the paramedics who had attended to my son when he collapsed at a café.

JERSEY MINISTER PRETENDING TO TAKE CYBER-BULLING
SERIOUSLY LAST YEAR

WHERE DOES THE ‘TWO FACED’ ASPECT COME IN YOU MAY ASK. DON’T WORRY I’LL GET TO THAT SHORTLY

         Taylor confirmed that my son had complained to the police about being assaulted and having his cell phone stolen. But he refused to name the person Simon named presumably because of that secrecy law. There were no independent witnesses so nobody was prosecuted.

         The fifth question I put to Bowron was: Did Simon ever complain to you personally about being cyber-bullied or assaulted? If so what action did you take?

         Taylor answered: Your son did introduce himself to Mr Bowron on one occasion in St Helier (the capital of Jersey) town centre when he gave Mr Bowron one of his business cards. Mr Bowron has no recollection of Simon discussing these particular matters with him.

         In my replying email to Taylor I said: Mr Bowron comes across as extremely vague for Jersey’s most senior policemen. What reason could Simon possibly have had in handing Mr Bowron his business card other than to get him to investigate Simon’s cyber-bullying allegations and perhaps also the assault incident? People don’t walk up to the Chief of Police just for the hell of it and say: ‘Wouldn’t you like my business card?’ without a very good reason.

JERSEY POLICE SAYING IN OCTOBER LAST YEAR THAT THEY
WOULD HELP CYBER-BULLY VICTIMS

         In my final question to Bowron I asked if Le Sueur, who has a business called Kandidprints was ever an honorary policeman.

         In keeping with the very unhelpful nature of his replies Taylor stated that as the States of Jersey Police was independent of the Honorary Police that operated in each of the 12 Parishes in the Island they had no details of these officers.

         My comment to him was: This makes the Jersey Police akin to the Keystone Cops. Are you telling me that the Honorary Police are so independent from your Force that you would be unable to establish if a particular person is, or was an Honorary policeman by merely picking up the phone.

         I wanted to know if Le Sueur, who Simon sued for libel together with Norton and various others in relation to cyber-bullying, had any Police connection because if so it appeared that this was why he was getting favourable treatment.

LE SUEUR EXPOSED

         He was also the person Simon claimed had assaulted him.

         That was my Bowron experience. He certainly seems to have adapted well to the entrenched code of secrecy that pervades the Island to protect those with influence. He was previously head of the City of London Police where I’m sure this kind of behaviour would have made headlines had it existed.

IT WAS WHEN THE BBC CAME CALLING ABOUT SIMON’S ACTIVITIES THAT BOWRON’S COPS PUT ON THEIR OTHER FACE AND CONVENIENTLY IGNORED THAT DRACONIAN DATA PROTECTION LAW.

         Around the middle of last year I appealed to the BBC Trust against a decision made by its senior executives to dismiss my complain that Norton had cyber-bullied my son. As part of this appeal the BBC appointed an unnamed, so called Independent Editorial Adviser to look into the matter. I was given the adviser’s findings to comment on.

         The Adviser reported that the Jersey Police were asked if there had been any police investigation into Simon, his charitable affairs or his allegation of cyber-bullying made against him. Instead of telling the Adviser that this could not be disclosed under the Data Protection Law the Police replied:

         Between September 2009 and December 2012 Mr Abbott made a number of complaints (5) to the States of Jersey Police, and a similar number (6) were made against him by various people, some of which related to concerns about financial handling of charity affairs, as well as harassment-related complaints made both by and against him.

         Charges were not brought against any individual. In general this was owing to a lack of evidence regarding criminality and it included those concerns relating to financial dealings.

         Investigations into allegations that Mr Abbott was a victim of cyber-bullying and/or harassment were reviewed by legal advisers and it was determined that there was no evidence of criminality.

         There is no specific offence in Jersey relating to cyber-bullying but we would look at whether the activity constituted harassment. For the purposes of this Article a person ought to know that his or her course of conduct amounts to harassment of another person if a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think it amounted to harassment.

         The BBC’s Adviser reported that Le Sueur had been a member of Jersey’s Honorary Police since April 2012.

         But one of the most sinister aspects of the report was this: The Police statement will be provided to the Committee (the people hearing my appeal) but it has not been shared with the parties to protect the privacy of the individuals referred to.
        That showed just how 'independent' the BBC's Adviser was. No wonder they wouldn't tell me his name.

        So the Two Faced Cops evidently disclosed a lot more to the BBC, with names as well, than the Corporation was prepared to let me see.   

         

                                                                                                

The Police conveniently ignored examples of harassment by both Norton and Le Sueur that complied perfectly with the definition of the law. And the proof was there for all to see on social media.

         Here are a couple of examples:

Norton: I have pretty much run out of patience with this guy. I’ve met him, tried to help him and he has even had the cheek to complain to the BBC that I’m harassing him. The Police and the press and possibly the taxation authorities must be sent all the complaints with hard evidence that Simon has actually done something wrong if they are to do something. In Surrey, where his late sister lived, the local Sutton newspaper is tracking him and have been in touch. In Devon the press are following him. I got this the other day. Damien Mills: Hi! I’m a journalist in Exeter where Simon Abbott it staging another of his infamous fashion shows. Give him a shout and tell him your stories and concerns.

         My concern is his constant appealing to the ‘wannabe’ mentality of young girls asking for models for events that do not exist. I will once again ask Jersey Police if they have any further thoughts on him.

         Simon, if you are reading this, which my friends he might be, give it up, come clean on the finances of the Trust, put the items you claim to have from the famous to good use. I’ll auction them for some people in real need, instead of fake events that help no-one, even those of us trying to raise funds.

THAT CAN’T POSSIBLY BE CALLED HARASSMENT CAN IT?

         It was perhaps no coincidence that Norton had a reputation as Jersey’s top charity fund organiser and was best known for coordinating the annual Jersey Charity Auction which he had done since 1984. This was broadcast live on BBC Radio Jersey.

         In addition he had been a Radio Jersey presenter for many years and was the owner of two restaurants on the Island. So he was an entrenched personality who the Police would be unlikely to go against on the basis of a complaint from a nobody like my son.

         In court documents Simon claimed that Stop the Con Simon @NOTJERSEYFASHION was set up by Le Sueur. I know this, he stated, because he sent me an email by mistake saying he was the driving force behind the group of trolls. If someone Tweets anything positive about the Samantha Abbott Trust @NOTJERSEYFASHION will tell them not to help. He will Tweet ‘Question his past bullying actions’; ‘Discrepancies in the account’ (Yet he has never seen them); ‘Being investigated by Devon & Cornwall Police and Jersey Police’ (This is not true) and ‘Simon Abbott con artist and serial duper.’

         ‘Fashion Juice @Fashion_Juice is Ian le Sueur because of the same comments and because the picture that was taken of me in the church was put on this profile. Again he posts libel comments and has tweeted to dozens of celebrities telling them not to support the Samantha Abbott Trust.

THAT CAN’T POSSIBLY BE CALLED HARASSMENT CAN IT?

         When the BBC’s adviser asked Le Sueur if he had put the photograph of Simon, that he snatched in a church at Norton’s behest, on social media he said he could not remember.

         Le Sueur’s Norton connection plus his close association with the Police no doubt ensured his immunity from prosecution in this case.

         Jon, a member of the Clean Up Jersey's Dirty Policing campaign.

DID CYBER-BULLIES KILL SIMON ABBOTT

Dear Readers,

This is Part 1 of an extensive investigation that will hopefully help to one day make cyber-bullying a criminal offence in every civilised country in the world.

NOBODY SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO DIE THIS WAY 

There’s lots more to come so keep looking at my Blog

It's a terrible shock shock to find a Contact Jersey Police urgently message on your blog. Cold sweat floods over you. You don’t want to phone because you know what’s coming. Your 47 year old son, your only remaining relative in the United Kingdom, lives in Jersey and you are half the world away in South Africa. The situation is made even worse because his sister and only sibling had died in England in particularly tragic circumstance four years earlier, aged 42. Then it was your son and not the Police who phoned, making it marginally less harrowing, if that was at all possible – Jon Abbott

Simon Abbott

         This is the story of evil, vicious and unrelenting cyber-bullies that all the indications are effectively killed Simon Abbott. He was so terribly slandered on social media for the last two years of his life that he was scared to leave his home unaccompanied.   

         The bullies sunk to such depths they even mocked the death of his sister.

         In a desperate plea for help to his advocate he wrote that he estimated that as many as 500 000 people had seen a series of Tweets posted over just one week-end calling him a con man, when there was not a shred of evidence to support this.

         Right up until the day he died they were still at it - another sarcastic post appeared with the aim of belittling him.

         When somebody dies it’s too late to say I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. Not that any of the bullies in this case showed the slightest sign of remorse.

         All this happened in the tiny, tax haven of Jersey, the English speaking island of 100 000 people in the Channel Islands just off the British and French coasts.

         Shockingly the bully leading the charge was none other than one of the island’s well known personalities and BBC Radio Jersey presenter Murray Norton. He was ably assisted by his photographer friend and member of the National Union of Journalists, Ian le Sueur.

Murray Norton

          And they are both denying they did anything wrong.

Ian Le Sueur

         They set a defamatory snowball rolling that gathered followers at a frightening pace. Many of them assumed that as Norton was part of the reputable British Broadcasting Corporation whatever he said must be true.  

Cyber-bulling is mostly associated with teenagers, but as this case proved people of any age can be just as juvenile and equally as cruel and unfeeling.

BREAKING: 30//10/2013 Norton announced on his 9-12 radio slot that today would be his last for the foreseeable future.

         One admitted in court papers that he called Simon a con merchant based on  nothing more than comments made by others on Facebook while another one conceded she had made a similar allegation at the suggestion of Mr Murray Norton.


MAIL ONLINE'S story

         And while all this was going on the BBC did nothing to stop it even though Norton’s boss, who claims to be a social media wizard, was aware of what was happening. The Jersey Police that deletes inappropriate posts from its own Facebook page also turned a blind eye in spite of the fact that Simon twice made complaints to it about being assaulted as a direct result of this bullying.

Simon was defenceless against this onslaught which began purely to stifle his efforts to successfully run the Samantha Abbott Trust he set up in memory of his sister (See my post Benjamin Squirrel – funeral organiser from Hell). In 2009 she leapt to her death from the top of a car park building in England after giving birth to her first and only child.

     

    Samantha had been suffering from post natal depression and that’s why Simon started a trust to raise awareness of this and to collect money to assist women in similar circumstances. It was registered with the Jersey Financial Services Commission as a not for profit organisation.

         People, many of whom Simon had never met, were whipped up on Twitter and Facebook into such a frenzy of hatred that violence was a constant threat.

         Here’s an example taken from court records.

Edgar Steinberg : From what I read I would  like to see this man being hit on his face. Twice. Honestly.

Simon Soar: I’d donate money to charity to see that.

An example of what Simon had to contend with

         Describing his feelings just after his sister died Simon wrote: It wasn’t a very good time for me because she had told me that she was having the baby to replace our Mum who had died not long before that. It was a huge shock when I suddenly got a call from the Police to say that my sister had taken her own life.

Another example of the "Destroy Simon" campaign

         A self employed software developer he had no previous experience of raising money for charity. As a result his initial projects turned out to be too ambitious to be practical, mainly because he kept trying to break a Guinness world record by using social media as his promotional vehicle. Then too, many people volunteered to help, but when it came to doing the work he got more excuses than assistance.

On the basis of these failures the bullies decided he must be a con man and they used social media to tell the whole world this, as if it was an established fact.

This scuppered any further money making ideas he had including perhaps his most envied one, the Jersey Fashion Show. At this he planned to auction clothes he obtained from celebrities.

What must have surprised his detractors immensely was that he was extremely successful. Donations of clothes kept coming from people like David and Victoria Beckham, Lilly Allen and many others.

And BBC Jersey’s website carried a glowing report on this.

Part of the story on BBC Jersey's website

It looked ominously as though it was no coincidence that Norton claimed to be an expert in charity fund raising where he’s been directly involved with over 2-million pounds of local fund raising.

            Had Simon trespassed on his sacred patch, was the question crying out to be answered.

         At one stage Norton challenged my son on Facebook to put the items you claim to have from the famous to good use. I’ll auction them for some people in real need, instead of fake events that help no one, even those of us trying to raise funds.

         Inevitably the bashing both figuratively and physically took its toll on Simon’s health. He wrote that in August 2011 he was signed off work and am in receipt of sickness benefit from anxiety and stress.

         He had almost come to the end of the line in his efforts to make the Samantha Abbot Trust a charitable reality while his own life continued to be bullied away.

         The medical diagnosis I gathered was that Simon died of a heart attack. But Jersey’s Viscount who conducts inquests as the coroner is currently getting expert advice as to whether or not the cyber-bulling contributed to Simon’s death.

         However all the evidence that I obtained shows that there can be no doubt that this was the case. My own doctor told me that if a person with a heart problem was subjected to excessive stress this could easily tip them over the edge.

          AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I  BELIEVE
                          HAPPENED TO SIMON 
                                            

*In future episodes I’ll tell you what the bullies said about Simon; how the BBC protected their presenter; how a bank took the opposite view to the Corporation as well as the many other aspects of this case, which is likely to be a long running series on my Blog.