Monthly Archives: November 2013

ZERO TOLERANCE ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE – THE ‘MS X’ EMAIL SENT TO EVERY COUNCILLOR IN BRISTOL

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On Sunday, to ensure that the failures faced by domestic violence survivor ‘Ms X’ were not swept under the carpet, The BRISTOLIAN emailed this message to all seventy Bristol City Councillors:

Dear Councillor,

As you may be aware, on Friday The BRISTOLIAN newspaper reported on a survivor of brutal domestic abuse, ‘Ms X’, whom Bristol City Council has failed to rehouse per its statutory obligations.

We identified named individuals – Strategic Housing Director Nick Hooper, Rehousing Manager Paul Sylvester, and Mayor George Ferguson – who had each been sent extensive information pertaining to Ms X’s situation, yet had done nothing about it.

The precise circumstances of Ms X’s dire need for rehousing are detailed within correspondence to which those three individuals were party to.

We would ask that any councillors who consider the rehousing of vulnerable survivors of domestic violence to be important contact Mr Hooper, Mr Sylvester and Mr Ferguson directly, and demand to know what they are doing about this woman’s plight.

Furthermore, we wonder just how many other people at risk from extreme physical, sexual or emotional abuse have been similarly let down by Bristol City Council. Just what will it take – a beating, a rape or a murder – for anything to be done to protect all the Ms Xs out there in Bristol tonight, tomorrow night, and every night thereafter?

We urge all readers to do the same – by contacting Mayor George Ferguson, “right hand woman” Zoe Sear, Nick Hooper and Paul Sylvester and letting them know that you expect IMMEDIATE ACTION to ensure the safety of Ms X and her child.

Please also consider letting your WARD COUNCILLORS know your concerns – you can find their contact details here.

Let each and every one of them, whether Labour, Lib Dem, Tory, Green or Independent, know that those who have suffered domestic violence should not have to put up with this kind of inhumane treatment from the council.

BRISTOL MAYOR’S AIDE ZOE SEAR – VICTIM BLAMER, ABUSE ENABLER…

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Zoe Sear: sticking the boot into domestic violence survivors on behalf of Mayor George Ferguson

Zoe Sear: sticking the boot into domestic violence survivors on behalf of Mayor George Ferguson

Web ExclusiveSo step forward ZOE SEAR, Mayor Fergo’s “right hand woman” paid nearly a thousand quid a week for her problem-solving abilities. Obviously a working class Bristolian like Ms X who has been repeatedly battered black and blue is not the concern of a Very Important millionaire like George Redtrousers, so when this shitstorm erupted in public, it was passed to his smiling consigliere Sear to deal with.

After initially making lots of sympathetic noises, Sear is now conspiring with incompetent housing chiefs Hooper and Sylvester to COVER UP their mistakes – and blame Ms X for her situation.

Sear has attempted to use an appointment scheduling error by a support agency which meant that Ms X could not attend one meeting because she was at another one as a stick to beat the victim with – and FORCE her into taking a place in a refuge against her wishes. That is the same offer that Ms X explained that she couldn’t accept THREE MONTHS AGO. Sear and her housing department chums are now using the threat of withdrawing all support as a way of SILENCING a vulnerable victim.

As Sear contemptuously said to Ms X’s advocate, “I don’t have a magic wand – what do you want me to do? Take her home with me?”

No, Zoe – we simply want you, your boss and your council to do the right thing – by appropriately rehousing this woman and her child. BEFORE either of them is harmed.

REHOUSING DOMESTIC ABUSE VICTIM ‘MS X’ – A HAPPY ENDING…?

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Web ExclusiveFollowing our recent articles on the horrific domestic abuse suffered by ‘Ms X’ – and the failure of senior Bristol City Council officials to rehouse her into a place of safety – we can report that those running our city have… Done precisely NOTHING.

Well, nothing except:

  • BLAME the victim
  • Make FALSE ALLEGATIONS about Ms X
  • Attempt to WASH THEIR HANDS of their legal duties

As we reported on Friday, senior BCC managers NICK HOOPER and PAUL SYLVESTER as well as City Mayor GEORGE FERGUSON all IGNORED extensive paperwork detailing the case of Ms X.

FACT: Ms X reported her abuse months ago.
FACT: Ms X has fully cooperated with the council and other agencies.
FACT: Ms X – for a range of reasons we cannot divulge here – made it clear she could not go to a ‘refuge’.
FACT: Bristol City Council made serious errors in its initial assessment of her needs.
FACT: Ms X is under an imminent and ongoing threat of extreme violence from her abuser if she stays where she is.

If all this didn’t sound grim enough on its own, The BRISTOLIAN can now reveal that:

  • Ms X has been repeatedly FAILED by local authority services in the past.
  • Ms X is also responsible for a YOUNG CHILD – whom she is terrified that she will lose if she is thrown into a refuge.
  • Ms X was initially put into the LOWEST housing band when originally assessed – a mistake that cost valuable weeks and caused great anxiety and stress to Ms X.
  • Ms X has received NO APOLOGY for her shameful treatment.

Since The BRISTOLIAN first brought the issue out into the open – and emailed an outline of the sickening situation to all SEVENTY COUNCILLORS to ensure that there would be no whitewash, no brushing of the matter under the carpet – there has been a flurry of activity behind the scenes at City Hall.

Ms X, her advocate and The BRISTOLIAN – plus a small number of councillors who have admirably taken an interest – took this to mean that the decision-makers were finally taking this seriously, and working to protect a survivor of domestic violence.

That belief was misplaced. That trust has been abused.

Want to know what happened next? Read on…

REVEALED: EMAIL PROOF OF BRISTOL HOUSING BOSSES’ FAILURE TO FIND SAFE HOME FOR VICTIM OF SADISTIC ABUSE

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Web ExclusiveWe’ve had so many inquiries from concerned councillors regarding the horrifying domestic abuse story we highlighted on Friday that we’ve decided to publish an urgent email sent, on behalf of the victim, to Bristol City Council housing boss PAUL SYLVESTER on Thursday that has gone unheeded and unanswered. We hope this shows just how potentially serious the situation is.

Letter received by Bristol City Council housing boss Paul Sylvester on 7/11/13 about his department’s failure to rehouse domestic abuse survivor (click to see full size version)

This email didn’t come out of thin air. It was a follow-up email to one sent last Monday to Sylvester’s boss NICK HOOPER, the leader of the council Labour group HELEN HOLLAND, and the globetrotting couldn’t-give-a-toss MAYOR GEORGE FERGUSON. It clearly outlined that a vulnerable domestic violence victim had been subjected to death threats the previous week and was in need of urgent rehousing. It has not even been acknowledged, let alone acted upon.

Indeed, on Friday evening Nick Hooper was issuing DENIALS to councillors that he had any idea what the issues we were raising were about. This means he either does not bother to read his correspondence or – that if he does – he sees nothing worth remembering when DEATH THREATS are issued to a working class Bristolian woman. How many of these cases is he ignoring a week?

It makes you wonder what’s going on with domestic violence policy at Bristol City Council. The victim applied for rehousing three months ago, has never been allowed to have a conversation with one of Hooper’s housing officers to discuss her situation, and every week is listed as about 30th in line to get rehoused. How bad must it be to be first in line?

The email has been redacted to avoid the victim being identified. After you have read this, we urge you – again – to get calling, get tweeting and get emailing to demand that posh, well-paid men at Bristol City Council start DOING THEIR BLOODY JOBS!

And ask yourselves – what are the chances that The BRISTOLIAN discovered the only person in the city suffering from domestic abuse who is having trouble getting rehoused?

A CLEAR & PRESENT DANGER: BRISTOL CITY COUNCIL ABANDONS VULNERABLE BATTERED WOMAN

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Web ExclusiveDespite its LEGAL OBLIGATIONS to immediately rehouse her, Bristol City Council is FAILING to place a vulnerable victim of ongoing brutal domestic violence into safety, according to information passed to The BRISTOLIAN.

The woman in question – whom we choose to identify only as ‘Ms X’ – has been targeted by a predatory sexual sadist over an extended period of time, and has reached out for help from a number of agencies.

Yet in a harrowing tale of municipal hand-wringing, thanks to a combination of INDIFFERENT POLITICAL HACKS and LAZY SENIOR OFFICERS, and despite her acute need to be rehoused away from her abuser, she remains trapped and at the mercy of a very dangerous man.

Credible information leads The BRISTOLIAN to believe that unless Ms X receives the rehousing support to which she is legally and morally entitled within days she is in real danger of serious harm.

And what can be done?

Well, the politicians and council officers who have already been made aware of the precise circumstances facing Ms X could pull their fingers out of their arseholes and (i) acknowledge the detailed information sent to them about this matter; and (ii) ACTUALLY REHOUSE MS X. Not when she’s in hospital – or worse – but NOW.

Of course, given their failure to take seriously either this particularly grim individual situation, or the wider issues of domestic abuse, we have decided to start NAMING AND SHAMING those who were told about the case of Ms X – but who have DONE NOTHING – starting with the overpaid men at the top…

So get calling, get tweeting and get emailing to demand that they DO THEIR JOBS!

Don’t let them sit on their hands until Ms X becomes that most unfortunate statistic of all.

* If within 24 hours of this post we don’t hear that practical steps have been taken to help Ms X, we reserve the right to leverage these – and other – complacent decision-makers even further.
** We are not naïve and realise that Ms X is not the only person at risk from domestic violence who is being failed by Bristol’s authorities. If you or someone you know is in a similar position as Ms X, and no one else can help, get in touch and we will see if there is anything we can do.

ANTI-‘SCROUNGER’ MP, ON THE SCROUNGE!

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All of Bristol’s MP’s have claimed money for energy bills it has emerged. The news comes just after the huge price rises have been forced on the public by energy firms.

Skidmore the prize winner!

Charlotte Leslie – Tory MP for Bristol North West – said she’s a bit skint at the minute… Erm, okay, what happened to the £66,000 we pay you?

Meanwhile over in Bristol East Labour’s Kerry McCarthy racked up the highest energy claim of £625.26. And what did she have to say for herself? “That seems like quite a lot because I don’t even heat my London home.” Reassuring words indeed!

How ever much sympathy you have for these poorly paid mites, spare no sympathy for Conservative Chris ‘Skidmark’ Skidmore, MP for Kingswood. Skidmark is ALWAYS available to moan in the press about the poor being so bloody well off because of all the benefits they get.  He pushes the need for further cuts to every benefit under the sun. He voted to SLASH disability benefit while being a member of a parliamentary group which campaign for disabled peoples causes!

Last month he was heard in a meeting at the Tory Party conference saying the cuts “haven’t left people lying dead in the street.” That’s a good marker for government policy – “Are people dying? Not quite, well, it must be going fine!”

On his own benefits he’s not said a word! But he hates benefits sooo much, it leaves us wondering at BRISTOLIAN HQ why he claimed the £260.14 for his gas bill. Chris please feel free to contact us and let us know!

Skidmore went to the £12,840 a year Bristol Grammar School then on to Oxford University. After NEVER having to struggle in his life, he’s somehow ended up an expert on what people in hard times need.

With your claim of £260.14 for gas, Chris you win our Massive Hypocrite Toff of the Year award!!

BRISTOL’S OFFICIAL GARY HOPKINS PORTRAIT ARTIST IS… @GURIBEN!

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‘Meat Zeppelin’, Councillor Gary Hopkins, watercolours, 2013, @guriben

‘Meat Zeppelin’, Councillor Gary Hopkins, watercolours, 2013, @guriben

After a week of hard voting, Bristol has spoken – @guriben wins the Official Gary Hopkins Portrait Meat Raffle Competition with his marvellous painting entitled ‘Meat Zeppelin’.

A special presentation of a £5 barrel bag of pork (painter’s preferred meat) will be made to the victorious artist sometime in the near future, hopefully with photographs and everything…

Congratulations to @guriben, and to all the other entrants – because in a way, we’re all winners (except Cllr Hopkins, that is).