ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN AND SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH SENT BY PC DAVID RATHBAND TO THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL BACK IN SEPTEMBER 2011.
NOW ON DISPLAY ALONG WITH A BRIEF DISPLAY INTO THE BACKGROUND AND SUBSEQUENT TRAGIC SUICIDE OF PC DAVID RATHBAND
PC DAVID RATHBAND SUICIDE BY HANGING ANNOUNCED
Moat cop David Rathband found dead in ‘suicide’
MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR PC DAVID RATHBAND 10TH MACH 2012
FUNERALSERVICE OF PC DAVID RATHBAND , TO SEE VIDEO PLEASE CLICK ON BELOW IMAGE
AS REPORTED BY THE SUN NEWSPAPER
So brave … PC David Rathband lost his sight in shooting
By ROBIN PERRIE
Published: 01st March 2012
THE cop blinded by gun maniac Raoul Moat was found dead at his home in a suspected suicide last night.
PC David Rathband, 44, had struggled to cope after being blasted in the face by Moat in July 2010.
Cops found the dad-of-two’s body in Blyth, Northumberland.
Ex-bouncer Moat, 37, had already shot dead his former girlfriend’s new man Christopher Brown, 29, in his rampage in July 2010. He also blasted and wounded his ex Samantha Stobbart, 22.
Rathband died two days after returning home to Blyth following a month-long visit to see his twin Darren in Adelaide, Australia.
Last picture … smiling David Rathband sunbathes in Australia days before his death
Before the end of his break he posted a string of disturbing messages on Twitter suggesting he was considering suicide.One read: “RIP PC Rathband.”
In another tweet he wrote: “I am flying home on Monday and will say goodbye to the children.”
He also commented on the lack of contact with wife Kath and said that she just wanted to be friends.
Rathband revealed they had split last November.
In another tweet he wrote how he had lost “my sight, my job, my wife and my marriage”.
His mood later appeared to improve when he said he was looking forward to the future.
Wounds … PC Rathband in hospital after Raoul Moat’s attack
He also said: “Very emotional few days but back on track. Now focusing on my trip back to the UK and the road ahead.”He also thanked his Twitter followers for their messages of support.
In the last-known picture of David — tweeted by Darren — he was seen sunbathing at a police recuperation centre just six days before his death.
Northumbria Police would not comment on the cause of death last night — but it was feared Rathband hanged himself.
Chief Constable Sue Sim said: “I am deeply saddened to have to confirm the death of PC David Rathband and my thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.
“In July 2010 his life changed for ever when he was shot and blinded by Raoul Moat. David showed outstanding bravery in what was a terrifying situation. He was a dedicated officer who acted in the best traditions of the police service.”
A police spokesman added no-one else was being sought in connection with the incident.
Maniac … Raoul Moat shot PC Rathband during gun rampage in July 2010
“He was declared dead at the scene. A police investigation is under way. The coroner has been informed.”The street where the brave bobby lived was cordoned off last night as an officer stood guard. Forensics experts were at the scene.
A spokesman for the The Blue Lamp Foundation – a charity started by David to help emergency services personnel injured in the line of duty as the result of a criminal act – last night said: “It is with great sadness that we learn of the death of David Rathband. Since being shot in July 2010, David struggled to come to terms with his horrific injuries and the traumatic effect they had on him and his family and friends.
“David’s legacy will live on in the form of The Blue Lamp Foundation. It was David’s wish that those who found themselves in a similar position to him could receive the support that wasn’t available to him at the time.
“David’s family have asked that their privacy be respected at this time and they are allowed the time and space to reflect and grieve.”
Bodybuilding nut Moat had just been freed from prison when he went on his rampage with a sawn-off shotgun on July 3, 2010.
He fled after shooting Samantha and Christopher in Gateshead — and next day blasted Rathband as he sat in his patrol car in Newcastle.
David later said: “I looked into his eyes and saw nothing — no emotion. Then I felt the pain full-on in my face.
“I knew my right eye socket had just exploded and my eye had gone.”
Just 12 minutes earlier steroid freak Moat had phoned 999 to “declare war” on the police.
He went on the run for seven days before he was cornered in Rothbury, Northumberland. He killed himself after a tense stand-off with police.
Video: David Rathband found dead
PC blinded by gunman Raoul Moat in suspected suicide
Rathband bravely struggled to cope with his blindness but it proved too much. He split with wife Kath, 42, and moved out of the marital home in a bid to learn to live independently.
Rathband, who had a son, 19, and daughter, 13, admitted last July that he had suicidal thoughts. He said in an interview: “I’m not a robot, I have been badly affected by what’s happened.
“I have to wait and see but as long as I have the conviction to carry on doing the best by my family then I don’t think I can go far wrong.”
Wife … PC Rathband with Kath
North News and Pictures
But last November Rathband revealed his marriage was over after a trial separation.
The previous August police visited the couple’s home. They were responding to reports of an alleged assault but no further action was taken.
So proud … cop David
After the split, Rathband was said to have formed a close friendship with 7/7 survivor Lisa French.
Last July he received a special recognition award from PM David Cameron at the Sun-backed Police Bravery Awards. Locals were stunned by the tragedy last night.
PC Rathband’s street was cordoned off with police tape with an officer standing guard.
A teenage girl, who went to the same school as Rathband’s son, said: “PC Rathband was a lovely man and I thought they were a lovely family.
“He did a speech at my friend’s funeral last year and I am really shocked to hear about what has happened. I can’t believe it.
“His family and friends will all be absolutely devastated. It is such a shock to hear that he has died.”
Police … at Rathband’s home last night
North News & Pictures ltd
A neighbour added: “It is a big shock. Everyone knows him around here. He was a prominent figure and everyone felt for him knowing what he had been through after he was shot. He seemed very brave.
“I don’t know how it has happened but it is tragic.”
PLEASE DO BE AWARE THAT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , IT’S OWNER , OR ANY OF IT’S STAFF HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL HAVE NO AFFILIATION , CONNECTION OR INVOLVEMENT WITH ANY EXTREMIST , POLITICALLY MOTIVATED OR OTHERWISE MOVEMENTS WHATSOEVER …… WE SIMPLY EXHIBIT AND TOUCH UPON A GREAT MANY POLITICALLY INCORRECT AND TABOO SUBJECT MATTERS THAT NO OTHER VISITOR ATTRACTIONS DARE COVER IN THE WAY WE CHOOSE TO DO HERE. …. “IT’S ALL HISTORY FOR GOODNESS SAKE”….EVEN IF ON OCCASIONS, SENSITIVE , THOUGHT PROVOKING SUBJECT MATTERS THAT INCITE STRONG DEBATE
PLEASE DO BE AWARE THAT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , IT’S OWNER , OR ANY OF IT’S STAFF HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL HAVE NO AFFILIATION , CONNECTION OR INVOLVEMENT WITH ANY EXTREMIST , POLITICALLY MOTIVATED OR OTHERWISE MOVEMENTS WHATSOEVER …… WE SIMPLY EXHIBIT AND TOUCH UPON A GREAT MANY POLITICALLY INCORRECT AND TABOO SUBJECT MATTERS THAT NO OTHER VISITOR ATTRACTIONS DARE COVER IN THE WAY WE CHOOSE TO DO HERE. …. “IT’S ALL HISTORY FOR GOODNESS SAKE”….EVEN IF ON OCCASIONS, SENSITIVE , THOUGHT PROVOKING SUBJECT MATTERS THAT INCITE STRONG DEBATE
PLEASE DO BE AWARE THAT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , IT’S OWNER , OR ANY OF IT’S STAFF HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL HAVE NO AFFILIATION , CONNECTION OR INVOLVEMENT WITH ANY EXTREMIST , POLITICALLY MOTIVATED OR OTHERWISE MOVEMENTS WHATSOEVER …… WE SIMPLY EXHIBIT AND TOUCH UPON A GREAT MANY POLITICALLY INCORRECT AND TABOO SUBJECT MATTERS THAT NO OTHER VISITOR ATTRACTIONS DARE COVER IN THE WAY WE CHOOSE TO DO HERE. …. “IT’S ALL HISTORY FOR GOODNESS SAKE”….EVEN IF ON OCCASIONS, SENSITIVE , THOUGHT PROVOKING SUBJECT MATTERS THAT INCITE STRONG DEBATE
African-American cop infiltrates the KKK
Ron Stallworth speaks about his experience with the Klansmen
In the late 1970s, the Ku Klux Klan was expanding in Colorado. Ron Stallworth was an undercover cop who tried to infiltrate the group. He disguised himself as a bigot and signed up with a local KKK chapter.
He began by answering a newspaper ad by phone and used what he said were all the buzzwords the Klansmen liked to hear. They liked Stallworth, asked him to join. Time went by and he became intimately involved with the group. He even exchanged numerous phone calls with Klan leader David Duke, who would often mock or insult minorities on the phone with Stallworth.
He was considered one of the KKK’s most loyal members. So one day, the group even asked him to be the leader of their local chapter in Colorado Springs. But there was one huge hurdle Stallworth had to overcome during his work, he’s black.
Former police officer and card-carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan, Ron Stallworth joined Dan Abrams to talk about his extraordinary experience.
To read an excerpt from their conversation, continue to the text below. To watch the video, click on the “Launch” button to the right.
DAN ABRAMS, HOST, ‘ABRAMS REPORT’: How does being black play into your undercover work?
RON STALLWORTH, WENT UNDERCOVER WITH THE KKK: Well, obviously, it was an obstacle. When this whole investigation started, I honestly didn’t think it was going to go very far.
I answered this ad in the classifieds. It said, “Ku Klux Klan: For information, call.” And then there was a phone number.
And since I was in intelligence and investigator for the Colorado Springs Police Department, I called the number and didn’t think it was going to lead anywhere. And lo and behold, another guy answered the phone and told me that he was starting a chapter in Colorado Springs and wanted to know if I was interested. And I said, “Yes.” I then spoke with him about why I wanted to join.
ABRAMS: What did you say? What would you say to him?
STALLWORTH: I told him I was a pure Aryan, white man, which in and of itself is a joke. But I said I was a pure Aryan, white-blooded American male, that I had been the victim of racial prejudice because of the dominance of blacks, Jews, and Mexicans, and other minorities, except I used the racial terms that they liked to use referring to those groups.
ABRAMS: Right.
STALLWORTH: And I even went so far as to tell them that part of the reason why I wanted to join was I had found out that a sister of mine had dated a black guy. And that, to me, was just the ultimate offense. And he couldn’t believe that.
And so he said I was just the type of individual that they were looking for. They were interested in expanding and asked me if I wanted to join. And I said, “Sure,” gave him my real name, and made arrangements to meet with him.
It turned out he was a soldier in the Army, stationed in Fort Carson, Colorado. And I arranged to meet with him. I gave him a physical description of myself, obviously didn’t tell him I was black, and told him I would be arriving at a certain type of vehicle and go from there.
ABRAMS: And then you actually sent a white officer in your place to a meeting?
STALLWORTH: Yes. I gave my physical description, because I knew a good buddy of mine working the narcotics division for the department matched my physical description. And what I did was I gave this officer all of my identification, minus anything with a picture, credit card, library card, this type of thing, and told him of my conversation on the phone, told him what I wanted to accomplish with a face-to-face meeting, and wired him for sound and sent him to the location.
He met with the guy. The guy gave him some literature, KKK literature, gave him an application form, told him they were part of the Denver chapter. Denver had a chapter at that time. And they were forming one in Colorado Springs and were looking to just promote their pure, Aryan, white race agenda in the Colorado Springs area.
ABRAMS: What did you learn about the Klansmen? What kind of crimes do you think you were you able to prevent?
STALLWORTH: Well, I was more interested, from an intelligence-gathering standpoint—obviously, any crimes that came up we would have followed up on. But I was mainly involved from the intelligence-gathering aspect. I do know that they planned several cross-burnings over the year that I had this investigation going, and I knew about those cross-burnings well in advance, so that we would have police officers saturating a particular neighborhood. And during the entire year of this investigation, at no time was a cross ever burned in Colorado Springs.
ABRAMS: Final question. David Duke, you talked to him on the phone a couple times, and he said to you that he always knows when he’s talking to a black man on the phone. He can always tell. And he was confident that you were a white man?
STALLWORTH: I talked to David Duke once or twice a week over the year that this investigation took place. And David did tell me that he could tell I had a little fun. I asked him one time. I said, “Aren’t you afraid of being infiltrated by the police or maybe some black person trying to get information on the group?” He said, no, he never worried about that.
And I asked him why. He said, “I can always tell when I’m talking to a black man because they pronounce words and letters a certain way.”
And he said, “I can tell that you’re a pure-blooded white man, because you don’t pronounce your words in that manner.” And from that point on, I started pronouncing those words in that manner just to play with him.
CELEBRITY TRAGEDIES, SLEAZE , SCANDAL AND MUCH MORE… HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011)
SHE DIED TOO YOUNG
WELL WORN, BLOODSTAINED BALLET PUMPS (SHOES) FROM AMY WINEHOUSE…. HERE ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL ALONG WITH OTHER PERSONALLY SIGNED PHOTOGRAPHS PROVIDING AN INSIGHT INTO THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THIS ICONIC STAR.
BELOW IS A WELL WORN HAIR EXTENSION PIECE FROM AMY WINEHOUSE WHICH IS ALSO ON DISPLAY HERE AT THE JAIL
HERE ARE VARIOUS AUTHENTIC SIGNED PHOTOGRAPHS PREVIOUSLY ACQUIRED DIRECTLY FROM AMY WINEHOUSE WHICH ARE ALL ON DISPLAY WITHIN VARIOUS MONTAGES THAT TOUCH UPON THE LIFE, TIMES AND DEATH OF THIS SADLY TRAGIC ICONIC AND HIGHLY TALENTED SONGSTRESS .
A GREAT TRACK AND VIDEO FROM THE LATE GREAT LADY – AMY WINEHOUSE PERFORMING HER CLASSIC 2006 HIT – BACK TO BLACK
THE INFAMOUS 27 CLUB…….. FREAKY COINCIDENCE -2009 PREDICTION THAT AMY WINEHOUSE COULD WELL JOIN OTHER LEGENDARY MUSIC ICONS IN THE THE 27 CLUB (AMY WINEHOUSE DIES 23RD JULY AT THE YOUNG AGE OF 27 ) THE PROGRAMME GOES ON TO EXAMINE OTHER CELEBRITY CURSES AND DEATHS . SEE ALL VIDEO FOOTAGE BELOW FOR SOME FASCINATING INTERACTIVE MATERIAL …..” WELL WORTH WATCHING “
Amy Winehouse, 27, found dead at her London flat after suspected ‘drug overdose’
Troubled singer had a long battle with drink and drugs
London Ambulance Service found singer at 3.54pm but unable to revive her
She was ‘beyond help’ according to Sky sources
Autopsy could take place ‘within next 24 hours’
Comes after Winehouse was booed off stage after shambolic Serbian show
Amy Winehouse has been found dead at her home in London.
The Back To Black singer was found at the property by emergency services at 3.54pm, and it’s believed Winehouse’s death was due to a suspected drug overdose.
Winehouse was apparently ‘beyond help’ when paramedics arrived, according to Sky sources.
Sources have also claimed Winehouse’s death was due to a drug overdose.
Passing: Amy Winehouse has been found dead at her home this afternoon
The scene: Amy was pronounced dead yesterday afternoon after emergency services arrived at her house in north London
Tragic: Winehouse’s body is seen being removed from her home
Drama: Members of the press and local residents watch as Winehouse’s body is taken to the van
WITHIN MINUTES 20M WERE TALKING TO EACH OTHER ON TWITTER ABOUT THE SINGER’S SUDDEN DEATH
Before it was announced on mainstream media the micro-blogging site was responding to the death of the singer and ‘Amy Winehouse’ quickly became one of Twitter’s ‘trending’ topics.
Trending refers to whichever names or terms are the most talked about at that particular moment. These are defined by the site as ‘most breaking’ topics.
Unlike topics which are discussed for a length of time, such as the phone hacking scandal, trending topics see huge numbers of Twitter users debating subjects as they happen.
Shortly after the confirmation of her death, Winehouse was mentioned in nearly 10 per cent of all tweets worldwide. As there are 200million users this equates to 20million people communicating with one another about her death.
Two ambulance crews arrived at the scene within five minutes and a paramedic on a bicycle also attended, according to a spokeswoman.
‘Sadly the patient had died,’ she added.
A statement from Winehouse’s U.S. record label read: ‘We are deeply saddened at the sudden loss of such a gifted musician, artist and performer.
‘Our prayers go out to Amy’s family, friends and fans at this difficult time.’
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: ‘Police were called by London Ambulance Service to an address in Camden Square NW1 shortly before 16.05hrs today, Saturday 23 July, following reports of a woman found deceased.
‘On arrival officers found the body of a 27-year-old female who was pronounced dead at the scene.
‘Enquiries continue into the circumstances of the death. At this early stage it is being treated as unexplained.’
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said in a press conference this evening that no cause of death had yet been confirmed.
He said: ‘I am aware of reports of a suspected drugs overdose, but I would like to reremphaise that no post-mortem has yet taken place and it would be inapproporaite to speculate on the cause of death.
‘The death of any person is a sad time of friends and family especially for someone known nationally and internationally like Amy Winehouse. My sympathy extends not only to her family but also to her millions of fans across the world.’
A spokesman for the late singer said: ‘Everyone involved with Amy is shocked and devastated.
‘Our thoughts are with her family and friends. The family will issue a statement when ready.’
It has also been claimed on gossip website RadarOnline.com that Winehouse’s autopsy could take place within the next 24 hours.
Last public appearance: Amy joined goddaughter Dionne Bromfield on stage during the iTunes festival on Wednesday night
Healthy: Amy was spotted out in London looking healthier earlier this month
A Scotland Yard spokesman is quoted by the website as saying: ‘The postmortem has not been scheduled yet but it is unlikely to take place before tomorrow.
‘In the case of a murder it can be done within hours but this is not the case so tomorrow or even Monday is more likely in these circumstances.’
A section of the road where the singer lived remained cordoned off tonight. Journalists, local residents and fans gathered at the police tapes, while forensic officers were seen going in and out of the building.
One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said she saw the singer’s grief-stricken boyfriend, believed to be film director Reg Traviss, on the ground outside the house.
Two women then came ‘speeding’ up in a black Mercedes and walked in and out of the house crying. They said they believed the singer was at home last night.
Winehouse’s father, Mitch, is understood to be returning to the UK from New York. He had been due to perform at the Blue Note jazz club in the city on Monday.
A message has been placed on the club’s website, reading: ‘We are very sad to report that the Mitch Winehouse performance on Monday July 25th is cancelled due to the unexpected death of his daughter, Amy Winehouse.
‘Our condolences go out to Mitch and his family.’ Mitch is now on his way back from New York.
Winehouse had been seen with her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield earlier this week as the teenager took to the stage at the iTunes festival.
She refused to join in for Mama Said, but did support the 14-year-old with a few dance moves before urging the crowd to buy Dionne’s new album Good For The Soul.
A source said: ‘Amy staggered onstage and grabbed the mic to beg the crowd to buy her protege’s new album.’
Winehouse’s appearance at the concert came after she cancelled her European tour following a disastrous performance in June when she stumbled onto the stage in Belgrade and gave an incoherent performance appearing very disorientated and removed from reality.
Unconfirmed: A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the cause of death has yet to be confirmed
Mourning: Floral tributes are left outside Amy’s house as news breaks of her death
Heartfelt: One note from a local resident states how much the singer will be missed in her local community
Following the concert which saw fans enraged and the subsequent video that circulated to millions she cancelled the remaining dates of her European tour.
A statement released by the troubled singer’s spokesperson at the time said that the singer would be given ‘as long as it takes’ to recover.
The statement read: ‘Amy Winehouse is withdrawing from all scheduled performances.
‘Everyone involved wishes to do everything they can to help her return to her best and she will be given as long as it takes for this to happen.’
Family: Amy with her father Mitch, to whom she was incredibly close, and her mother Janis
Shambolic: Amy was booed off stage during a shambolic performance in Belgrade in June
AMY AND BLAKE: A TROUBLED ROMANCE
Amy married Blake Fielder-Civil in Miami, Florida in 2007 but they were divorced two years later in September 2009.
From the beginning there relationship was fraught with difficulty as they struggled with addictions to crack cocaine and heroin. This led to numerous break-ups and ensuing make-ups.
Three months after they divorced speculation began to mount that they would one more marry. This was supported by the announcement on Facebook where they had both changed their relationship status to married.
But they never actually went ahead with it.
Fielder-Civil’s troubles continued and in June of this year was sentenced to 32 months in prison for burglary and possession of an imitation firearm.
Police caught the 29-year-old in a car in February with an altered number plate full of recently stolen possessions.
Winehouse had been working on her long-awaited new album, the follow-up to her 2006 breakthrough multi-million selling Back To Black, for the past three years.
The singer was born Amy Jade Winehouse on 14th September 1983 in Southgate, London.
Winehouse has had a troubled life which has included various stints in rehab for drug and alcohol addiction.
The singer is thought to have been to rehab four times.
In an interview in 2008, her mother Janis said she would be unsurprised if her daughter died before her time.
She said: ‘I’ve known for a long time that my daughter has problems.
‘But seeing it on screen rammed it home. I realise my daughter could be dead within the year. We’re watching her kill herself, slowly.
‘I’ve already come to terms with her dead. I’ve steeled myself to ask her what ground she wants to be buried in, which cemetery.
‘Because the drugs will get her if she stays on this road.
‘I look at Heath Ledger and Britney. She’s on their path. It’s like watching a car crash – this person throwing all these gifts away.’
In addition, there was a website set up called When Will Amy Winehouse Die?, with visitors asked to guess the date of death with the chance of winning an iPod Touch.
In an interview last October with Harper’s Bazaar magazine, Amy was asked if she was happy.
She replied: ‘I don’t know what you mean. I’ve got a very nice boyfriend. He’s very good to me.’
And, asked if she had any unfulfilled ambitions, Amy replied: ‘Nope! If I died tomorrow, I would be a happy girl.’
As well her battles with drugs and alcohol, Winehouse also had a troubled marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil, who she divorced in summer 2009.
Fielder-Civil and Winehouse married in 2007 in Miami.
The pair’s relationship – heavily documented by the media – saw them appearing in public bloodied and bruised after fights.
It is also alleged former music video producer Fielder-Civil was the one who introduced the Back to Black star to heroin and crack cocaine.
Amy’s father Mitch previously spoke out about how his daughter stayed away from drugs prior to meeting her ex-husband.
In a previous interview last year he said: ‘He’s not entirely responsible, she’s got to take a portion of the responsibility, but it’s clear, it really kicked off when they got together.’
Most recently, Winehouse was romantically linked to film director Reg Traviss, who she dated for a few months last year.
Weight worries: Amy also caused concern with her shrinking frame, and looked gaunt back in 2008 (right)
And Mitch also gave the new man his seal of approval.
In an interview with STV’s The Hour programme, he said: ‘I’m happy she’s got a new boyfriend. I’m happy that she’s moving on with her life.’
He said Traviss was a ‘very nice, normal bloke’. The pair split in January this year but quickly rekindled their relationship.
In March, Traviss said: ‘We’ve been together nearly a year now and we’re very happy. Amy’s doing well, she’s fine. She’s healthy and happy.’
AMY WINEHOUSE – THE LATEST MEMBER OF THE ’27 CLUB’
The singer’s tragic death at the age of 27 puts her in a pantheon of famous musicians who have all died at the same age.
Amy follows now joins the notorious 27 Club, also known as Forever 27, which is a group of musicians who have all died at the age while struggling to cope with fame.
Club members: Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison are among those who died at the age of 27
Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was the most recent victim and in 1994, pumped with heroin and valium, he turned a gun on himself.
Decades earlier Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Brian Jones all died at 27.
Rolling Stone Jones drowned in a swimming pool in 1969; Hendrix choked to death in 1970 after mixing wine with sleeping pills and singer Janis Joplin suffered a suspected heroin overdose the same year.
Doors star Morrison died of heart failure in 1971.
Winehouse has also caused controversy with her weight over the past few years. After hitting the music industry as a curvy role model, Winehouse then shed an astonishing amount of weight, leading to her looking gaunt in 2008.
Amy had a hugely successful musical career with the release of her debut album Frank in 2003, and the record considered her breakthrough album – Back To Black in 2006.
The singer featured on the Sunday Times Rich List earlier this year with an estimated net worth of around £6million.
During her career, Winehouse won awards including five Grammy Awards, a Q Music Award for Best Album for Back To Black and a World Music Award in 2008 for World’s Best Selling Pop/Rock Female Artist.
Finding love again: Amy is believed to have been dating film director Reg Traviss at the time of her death
Success: Amy performed via video link at the Grammy Awards in 2008 after winning five awards
The tragic loss of Amy Winehouse has robbed us of a young, if fatally troubled, life cut down in its prime. It has also cheated British music of a talent, at 27, whose best years surely still lay ahead.
As a homegrown singer, she was with without question the outstanding vocalist of her generation. Without Amy, there would have been no Adele, no Duffy and no Lady Gaga. She may have been an alumni of the Brit School, but Winehouse was also a British great.
In an era of manufactured stars and precision-tooled pop puppets, she was the real deal. For all her demons – and, sadly, sometimes because of them – she cut through pop’s hyperbole. Her rawness and emotional honesty harked back to an era when the best singers were more believable. For a white girl raised in the North London suburbs, she had the sweet, sure touch of an Aretha Franklin or Etta James.
Tragic loss: Amy Winehouse was a talented and much-loved singer and performer
Her talent was obvious from the off. The first time I saw her live was at the V Festival eight years ago. Tucked away at the bottom of the bill in one of the small tents, well away from the crowds gathering for headliners the Red Hot Chili Peppers, she oozed class. Dressed in a Fifties-style frock, playing a white Fender guitar, she showed nervous glimpses of a talent that would later wow the world.
I was lucky enough to interview her twice. The first time came shortly before the release of debut album Frank in 2003. Having met her in a photographic studio in Soho around lunchtime, we relocated, at Amy’s insistence, to her favourite local Italian cafe, where we enjoyed a lengthy chat over a large, non alcoholic lunch. She struck me then as a witty, intelligent young girl on the cusp of womanhood.
Full of joy: Amy performing at the start of her career back in 2004
She was full of the joys of life and understandably excited about her future.
Confident in her own abilities, she was gleefully irreverent. Whereas other singers, media-trained to within an inch of their lives, were masters in the art of diplomacy, she happily sounded off with little regard of the consequences.
Unconcerned about how her words might look in print, she dismissed her peers.
Dido and Norah Jones, huge at the time, were among her targets. They were ridiculed for being bland. She was savage, too, in her criticisms of Madonna.
She was naive, yes, but immensely likeable. A glowing review ensued.
Later, shortly before the release of second album Back To Black, I came face to face with a different Amy. Noticeably more slight than when we’d met three years previously, she turned up late in a coffee bar close to her North London home, but still turned heads with her long, raven black hair and striking eye-liner.
But, while some of that earlier youthful, sparkle had gone, she still struck me as a woman who knew exactly what she wanted. Perhaps more aware of her own flaws, she even retracted what she had said three years earlier about her fellow female stars. ‘When I was promoting my first album I was very defensive, so I lashed out a lot,’ she said. ‘But I won’t be saying anything negative about other singers now. They’ve got their job to do. I’m just happy to be doing my own thing.’ More mature in many ways, she was ready to let her music do the talking.
And Back To Black did just that. Rooted in emotional turmoil, it will go down as one of the classic British albums. Even now, in an era where female pop rules the charts in the shape of Adele, Beyoncé, Katy Perry and Gaga, nothing has come close to packing the sheer emotional punch of Back To Black. A departure from her jazzy debut, it was stark, simple and stunningly direct.
Musical stylings: Amy caused a stir with her first album Frank in 2004, and followed it with Back To Black in 2006
Musically, it was influenced heavily by Sixties girl groups such as The Shangri-Las and The Supremes. Lyrically, most notably on signature tune Rehab, it was clearly affected by the demons that were now troubling the singer. A far more commercial prospect than her eclectic debut, it went on to sell millions.
It won Grammys and Brits and established Amy as the pre-eminent soul girl of her age.
Despite her problems, the Amy I glimpsed during our brief encounters was different from her public persona. Nobody makes records as good and enduring as Frank and Back To Black without an intimate knowledge of the essential ingredients of great pop music. And Amy certainly had that in abundance.
For me, the most recent example of the way in which her talent truly touched people from all walks of life came in a conversation a few weeks ago with the great Tony Bennett, who sung with Amy on a track, Body And Soul, from his forthcoming duets album. As a singer who has worked with the best, from Frank Sinatra to Ella Fitzgerald, he had no doubt as to where Amy stood – she was one of the best. Remember her this way.
HERE IS MORE INTERACTIVE DOCUMENTARY AND HOPEFULLY EDUCATIONAL FOOTAGE TOUCHING UPON THE ANTI NAZI MOVEMENTS HERE IN BRITAIN DURING THE 1970’S- 1980’S .
PLEASE DO BE AWARE THAT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , IT’S OWNER , OR ANY OF IT’S STAFF HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL HAVE NO AFFILIATION , CONNECTION OR INVOLVEMENT WITH ANY EXTREMIST , POLITICALLY MOTIVATED OR OTHERWISE MOVEMENTS WHATSOEVER …… WE SIMPLY EXHIBIT AND TOUCH UPON A GREAT MANY POLITICALLY INCORRECT AND TABOO SUBJECT MATTERS THAT NO OTHER VISITOR ATTRACTIONS DARE COVER IN THE WAY WE CHOOSE TO DO HERE. …. “IT’S ALL HISTORY FOR GOODNESS SAKE”….EVEN IF ON OCCASIONS, SENSITIVE , THOUGHT PROVOKING SUBJECT MATTERS THAT INCITE STRONG DEBATE .
The Anti-Nazi League (ANL) was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from sometrade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups in the United Kingdom. It was wound down in 1981. It was relaunched in 1992, but merged into Unite Against Fascism in 2003.
The initial sponsors included Peter Hain (a former Young Liberal leader; then the communications officer of the postal workers’ union UCW, more recently Secretary of State for Wales), Ernie Roberts(deputy general secretary of the engineering union AUEW) and Paul Holborow (of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP)).[citation needed][edit]History
In its first period, 1977–1982, the Anti-Nazi League was supposedly run by an elected committee nationally and similar committees throughout the country, although in practice many local and National ANL initiatives were launched directly by the SWP. Many trade unions sponsored it as did the Indian Workers Association (then a large organisation), and many members of the Labour Party and MPs such as Neil Kinnock.[citation needed] The Anti-Nazi League was best known for the two giant Rock Against Racism carnivals of 1978: involving bands such as The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, Steel Pulse, Misty in Roots, X-Ray Spex andTom Robinson, they saw 80,000 and then 100,000.[citation needed] In 1981 with the eclipse of the National Front and collapse of the British Movement the initial incarnation of the ANL was wound up. Some elements within the ANL opposed the winding up of the organisation, including some members of the SWP. After being expelled from the Socialist Workers Party some of these elements formedRed Action and with others organised Anti-Fascist Action, who had a much more open view to using violence to intimidate groups and individuals they considered fascist. In 1992 the Socialist Workers Party relaunched the Anti-Nazi League due to the electoral success of the British National Party.[citation needed] In 2004 the ANL affiliated with the Unite Against Fascism group alongside other groups such as the National Assembly Against Racism.[1][2]
Most of the ANL’s activities in the 1970s were in opposition to the National Front, an organization led by John Tyndall who had a long history of involvement with openly fascist and Nazi groups. The ANL also campaigned against the British Movement which was a more openly Hitlerite grouping. The ANL was allowed to run down in the early 1980s.[citation needed] The organization was revived in 1992. In the 1990s its main efforts have been to oppose the British National Party, which denies that it is a Nazi Party.
In April 1979, an ANL member, Blair Peach, was killed following a demonstration at Southall against a National Front election meeting. Police had sealed off the area around Southall Town Hall, and anti-racist demonstrators trying to make their way there were blocked. In the ensuing confrontation, more than 40 people (including 21 police) were injured, and 300 were arrested. Bricks were hurled at police, who described the rioting as the most violent they have handled in London. Among the demonstrators was Peach, a New Zealand-born member of the ANL. During an incident in a side street 100 yards from the town hall, he was seriously injured and collapsed, blood running down his face from serious head injuries. He died later in hospital.[3] An inquest jury later returned a verdict of misadventure, and Blair Peach remains a symbolic figurehead for the ANL. Campaigns continue for a public inquiry into his death. A primary school in Southall bears his name.[4]
The ANL National Organiser at the time of the creation of Unite Against Fascism was Weyman Bennett, a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party. Its previous National Organiser was Julie Waterson, also a member of the Socialist Workers Party and a former member of the National Executive of the Socialist Alliance.[citation needed]
When the National Front and the British National Party were led by John Tyndall, his record of involvement in openly Neo-Nazi groups made it far easier to assert that the National Front and BNP werefascist or Neo-Nazi in nature. Similarly, his convictions for violence and incitement to racial hatred provide ample grounds for the ANL to claim both organisations were racist.[5] The ANL and other anti fascists argue that the BNP remains a Nazi party irrespective of the fact that it has adopted what the ANL describes as the ‘Dual Strategy’ of cultivating respectability in the media while retaining a cadre of committed fascists. This position is countered by BNP members who claim that their party is increasingly democratic in its nature. Journalistic investigation by The Guardian newspaper (December 22, 2006) has supported the ANL’s view that the BNP remains a fascist party.[6]
More broadly, the ANL is seen as a form of anti-fascism that seeks out alliances with a broad spectrum of progressive organisations usually rooted in the Labour movement. Socialist historian Dave Renton, for example, in his book Fascism: Theory and Practice,[7] describes the ANL as “an orthodox united front” based on a “strategy of working class unity”, as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Critics of the ANL, such as Anti-Fascist Action[8] argue that the ANL’s co-operation with “bourgeois” groups who work closely with the state, such as Searchlight magazine and the Labour Party, rule out this description, making it a classic popular front.
Critics of the ANL (including people opposed to the far right) claim that its “No Platform for Nazis” policy and call for far right parties to be “shut down” amounts to denying the democratic rights tofreedom of speech and freedom of association. For some, this reflects the fact that freedom of speech is either universal or non-existent; others take the more nuanced position that this reflects the greater protection to be accorded to those sub-sets of freedom of speech and association which deliver ‘democracy’ (so political speech would attract greater protection than forms of speech, such as pornography, which do not contribute to democracy). This view point accords with those anti-fascists who believe that the best way to defeat the far right is by debate rather than censorship, which they say is both ineffective and hypocritical. Relatedly, the ANL has been subject to the more pragmatic criticism that its constant calls for groups like the BNP to be banned will allow the far right to portray themselves as victims of censorship, and the anti-fascist movement as intolerant and undemocratic. The ANL response to this criticism derives from the argument that, because fascist groups ultimately seek to curtail democracy and suppress democratic rights (even if they initially seek to obtain power through democratic means), the curtailment of their democratic rights can be justified as a means of protecting those of the broader citizenry. Militant anti-fascists, however, have criticised the ANL for relying on the state to prosecute or censor fascism, rather than promoting direct action by citizens.[citation needed]
The ANL has been accused of being a ‘front’ for the Socialist Workers Party; that is, of being controlled by the SWP and having the agenda of recruiting members to that organisation, while giving the impression of being independent,[9] generally by left-wingers who are not associated with the SWP
HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL AND THROUGH OUR BUSINESS FACEBOOK WE TRY AND PROVIDE A BALANCED AND EDUCATIONAL INTERACTIVE INSIGHT INTO WHAT MANY DEEM TO BE TABOO SUBJECT MATTERS THAT OUR BRITISH GOVERNMENTS FAIL TO RECOGNISE AS BEING A PART OF OUR CULTURAL HISTORY ….. IT HAPPENED HERE IN BRITAIN DURING THIS TIME AND CONTINUES TO DO SO ON A LESSER SCALE TODAY
PLEASE DO BE AWARE THAT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , IT’S OWNER , OR ANY OF IT’S STAFF HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL HAVE NO AFFILIATION , CONNECTION OR INVOLVEMENT WITH ANY EXTREMIST , POLITICALLY MOTIVATED OR OTHERWISE MOVEMENTS WHATSOEVER …… WE SIMPLY EXHIBIT AND TOUCH UPON A GREAT MANY POLITICALLY INCORRECT AND TABOO SUBJECT MATTERS THAT NO OTHER VISITOR ATTRACTIONS DARE COVER IN THE WAY WE CHOOSE TO DO HERE. …. “IT’S ALL HISTORY FOR GOODNESS SAKE”….EVEN IF ON OCCASIONS, SENSITIVE , THOUGHT PROVOKING SUBJECT MATTERS THAT INCITE STRONG DEBATE .
BELOW IS UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL SPEECHES OF ALL TIME BY A BRITISH MP ENOCH POWELL …. THE ” RIVERS OF BLOOD SPEECH “
The National Front (NF) is a far right, racial nationalist, whites-only[4]political party whose heyday was the 1970s.[5] Its electoral support peaked in the1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes (0.6% of the overall vote).
The British prison service and police services forbid their employees to be members of the party.[6]
The party accounts submitted to the Electoral Commission in 2007 detailed national profitability.[7] It put up 17 candidates in the 2010 general election and 18 candidates for the 2010 local elections. The party failed to gain any representation at either national or local level.
The National Front have been described as fascist[8][2][9] and neo-fascist.[3] In his book, The New Fascists, Wilkinson, comparing the NF to the Italian Social Movement (MSI), comments on their neo-fascist nature and neo-Nazi ideals:[edit]Policies
“The only other case among the western democracies of a neo-fascist movement making some progress towards creating an effective mass party with at least a chance of winning some leverage, is the National Front (NF) in Britain. It is interesting that the NF, like the MSI, has tried to develop a ‘two-track’ strategy. On the one hand it follows an opportunistic policy of attempting to present itself as a respectable political party appealing by argument and peaceful persuasion for the support of the British electorate. On the other, its leadership is deeply imbued with Nazi ideas, and though they try to play down their past affiliations with more blatantly Nazi movements, such as Colin Jordan’s National Socialist Movement, they covertly maintain intimate connections with small neo-Nazi cells in Britain and abroad, because all their beliefs and motives make this not only tactically expedient but effective.”[3]
The National Front also stand against immigration into the United Kingdom and would introduce a policy of compulsory repatriation of all those of non-European descent as well as closing the borders to all further immigration. The party claims to stand against “American imperialism“, and would withdraw from NATO and the European Union. The party supports the use of capital punishment for crimes of murder, rape, paedophilia and terrorism. It would reintroduce Section 28, and support the recriminalization of homosexuality. The party adopts a strongly pro-life stance, describing abortion as a “crime against humanity” and would repeal the 1967 Abortion Act. The NF claims to oppose all economic and cultural imperialism: “Nations should be free to determine their own political systems, their own economic systems and to develop their own culture.”[12] Its constitution expresses the fact that it is led by a National Directorate rather than a chairman. Section 2 says: “The National Front consists of a confederation of branches co-ordinated by a National Directorate. Additionally a Central Tribunal appointed by the National Directorate is responsible for acting as a final court of appeal in internal disciplinary matters and for acting as a disciplinary tribunal for cases brought directly against individual party members by the National Directorate.”[13] It claims that its skinhead image is a thing of the past.[14]
The party is critical of the historical accuracy of the Holocaust, and is inclined towards historical revisionism, but claims that it has no official view about it and defends the right of free speech for any historian of the subject.[14] In recent years the party has been in conflict with the British National Party over such issues as the BNP’s attempts to present itself with a more moderate image. The party has described the BNP as part of a “Zionist Occupation Government“. The NF’s former national chairman, Tom Holmes, condemned the BNP as no longer being a white nationalist party for having aSikh columnist in their party newspaper.[15]
A move towards unity on the far right had been growing during the 1960s as groups worked more closely together. Impetus was provided by the 1966 general election when a moderate Conservative Party was defeated and A. K. Chesterton, a cousin of the novelist G. K. Chesterton and leader of the League of Empire Loyalists (LEL), argued that a patriotic and racialist right wing party would have won the election.[16] Acting on a suggestion by John Tyndall, Chesterton opened talks with the 1960s incarnation of the British National Party (who had already been discussing a possible deal with the new National Democratic Party) and agreed a merger with them, with the BNP’s Philip Maxwell addressing the LEL conference in October 1966.[17] A portion of the Racial Preservation Society led by Robin Beauclair also agreed to participate (although the remainder threw in their lot with the NDP, its house political party under David Brown) and so the NF was founded on February 7, 1967.[18]
The National Front grew during the 1970s and had between 16,000 and 20,000 members by 1974, and 50 local branches.[20] Its electoral base largely consisted of blue-collar workers and the self-employed who resented immigrant competition in the labour market or simply the appearance of immigrants. The Conservatives came particularly from the Conservative Monday Club group within the Conservative Party that had been founded in hostile reaction to Harold Macmillan‘s “Wind Of Change” speech. The NF fought on a platform of opposition to communism and liberalism, support for Ulster loyalism, opposition to the European Economic Community, and the compulsory repatriation of new Commonwealth immigrants who had entered Britain legally courtesy of the British Nationality Act, 1948.[21][22]
National Front march in Yorkshire, 1970s.
A common sight in England in the 1970s, the NF was well-known for its street demonstrations, particularly in London, where it often faced anti-fascistprotestors from opposing left-wing groups, including the International Marxist Group and the International Socialists (later the Socialist Workers Party). Opponents of the National Front claimed it to be a neo-fascist organization, and its activities were opposed by anti-racist groups such as Searchlight. The NF was led at first by Chesterton, who left under a cloud after half of the directorate (led by the NF’s major financer, Gordon Marshall) moved a vote of no confidence in him. He was replaced in 1970 by the party’s office manager John O’Brien, a former Conservative and supporter of Enoch Powell. O’Brien, however, left when he realised the NF’s leadership functions were being systematically taken over by the former Greater Britain Movement members, in order to ensure the party was really being run by John Tyndall and his deputy Martin Webster.[23] O’Brien and the NF’s treasurer Clare McDonald led a small group of supporters into John Davis’ National Independence Party, and the leadership of the National Front passed to Tyndall and Webster.
Between 1973 and 1976 the National Front performed better in local elections, as well as in several parliamentary by-elections, than in general elections. No parliamentary candidates ever won a seat, but the party saved its deposit on one occasion.[24][25]
A Canadian organisation was also set up (National Front of Canada) but it failed to take off.[28]
Already by 1974, the ITVdocumentaryThis Week exposed the neo-Nazi pasts (and continued links with Nazis from other countries) of Tyndall and Webster. This resulted in a stormy annual conference two weeks later, where Tyndall was booed with chants of “Nazi! Nazi!” when he tried to make his speech. This led to the leadership being passed to the populistJohn Kingsley Read. A stand-off between Read and his supporters (such as Roy Painter and Denis Pirie) and Tyndall and Webster followed, leading to a temporary stand-still in NF growth. Before long Read and his supporters seceded and Tyndall returned as leader. Read formed the short-lived National Party, which won two council seats in Blackburn in 1976.[29]
A National Front march through central London on 15 June 1974 led to a 21-year-old man, Kevin Gately, being killed and dozens more people (including 39 police officers) being injured, in clashes between the party’s supporters and members of ‘anti-fascist’ organisations.[30]
The National Front was also opposed to British membership of the European Economic Community, which began on 1 January 1973. On 25 March 1975, some 400 NF supporters demonstrated acrossLondon in protest against EEC membership, mostly in the Islington area of the capital.[31]
During 1976 the movement’s fortunes improved, and the NF had up to 14,000 paid members.[20] A campaign was launched in support of Robert Relf, who had been jailed for refusing to remove a sign from outside his home declaring that it was for sale only to English buyers. In the May local election the NF’s best result was in Leicester, where 48 candidates won 14,566 votes, nearly 20% of the total vote.[32] By June, the party’s growth rate was its highest ever. In the May 1977 Greater London Council election, 119,060 votes were cast in favour of the NF and the Liberals were beaten in 33 out of 92 constituencies.[33]
A police ban on an NF march through Hyde in October 1977 was defied by Martin Webster, who separately marched alone carrying a Union Jack and a sign reading “Defend British Free Speech from Red Terrorism”, surrounded by an estimated 2,500 police and onlookers. He was allowed to march, as ‘one man’ did not constitute a breaking of the ban. The tactic split the Anti-Nazi League in two and made a farce of the ban[citation needed] whilst attracting more media publicity for the Front.[34][dead link][35][36][unreliable source?][37]
If anything epitomised the NF under Tyndall and Webster it was the events of August 1977, when a large NF march went through the largely non-white area of Lewisham in South East London under an inflammatory slogan claiming that 85% of muggers were black whilst 85% of their victims were white.[38] As the NF was then contesting the Birmingham Ladywood by-election, such a large march elsewhere was construed by some as an attempt to provoke trouble. 270 policemen were injured (56 hospitalised) and over 200 marchers were injured (78 hospitalised), while an attempt was made by rioters to destroy the local police station.[39] The march saw the first use of riot shields in the UK outside Northern Ireland. The event is often referred to by ‘anti-fascists’ as the Battle of Lewisham in allusion to the earlier Battle of Cable Street against Oswald Mosley[original research?]. In fact, many of those who took part in the riot that day were not members of any ‘anti-fascist’ or ‘anti-racist’ group, but local youths (both black and white).[40]
At the same time, Margaret Thatcher as opposition leader was moving the Tory party back to the right and away from the moderate Heathite stance which had caused some Conservatives to join the NF. Many ex-Tories returned to the fold from the NF or its myriad splinter groups, in particular after her “swamping” remarks on the ITV documentary series World In Action on 30 January 1978:
“… we do not talk about it [immigration] perhaps as much as we should. In my view, that is one thing that is driving some people to the National Front. They do not agree with the objectives of the National Front, but they say that at least they are talking about some of the problems…. If we do not want people to go to extremes… we must show that we are prepared to deal with it. We are a British nation with British characteristics.”[41]
Also Tyndall insisted on using party funds to nominate extra candidates so that the NF would be standing in 303 seats. This was in order to give the impression of growing strength. However, it brought the party to the verge of bankruptcy when all of the deposits were lost. Most candidates were candidates in name only, and did no electioneering.[citation needed].
National Front deputy leader Martin Webster claimed two decades later that the activities of the Anti-Nazi League played a key part in the NF’s collapse at the end of the 1970s, but this claim seems counter-intuitive, for the Anti-Nazi League collapsed early in 1979 amid claims of financial impropriety, with former celebrity supporters such as Brian Clough disowning the organisation. Furthermore, the NF stood their largest number of parliamentary candidates at the 1979 general election only a few months later, and met with far less opposition than in previous elections.[citation needed].
Most damning of all, a full set of minutes of National Front Directorate meetings from late 1979 to the 1986 “Third Way” versus “Flag Group” split, deposited by former NF leader Patrick Harrington in the library of the University of Southampton, revealed that during the party’s post-1979 wilderness years they were in the habit of “tipping off the reds” in the hope of giving their activities greater credibility with the public, through being attended by hordes of angry protestors. This fact was later confirmed by MI5 mole Andy Carmichael, who was West Midlands Regional Organiser for the NF during the 1990s.[42]
Tyndall’s leadership was challenged by Andrew Fountaine after the 1979 debacle. Although Tyndall saw off the challenge, Fountaine and his followers split from the party to form the NF Constitutional Movement. The influential Leicester branch of the NF also split around this time, leading to the formation of the short lived British Democratic Party. In the face of these splits, the party’s Directorate voted to oust Tyndall as Chairman after he had demanded even more powers. He was replaced by Andrew Brons: but the ‘power behind the throne’ was Martin Webster who, somewhat surprisingly, had supported his old ally’s deposition. After failing to win title to the National Front name in the courts, Tyndall went on eventually to form the British National Party.
The party rapidly declined during the 1980s, although it retained some support in the West Midlands and in parts of London (usually centred around Terry Blackham).[43]
The party effectively split into two halves during the 1980s, after it had expelled Martin Webster and his partner Peter Salt. On one side were the Political Soldier ideas of young radicals such as Nick Griffin, Patrick Harrington, Phil Andrews and Derek Holland, who were known as the Official National Front. They had little interest in contesting elections, preferring a ‘revolutionary’ strategy.[44]
The opposition NF Flag Group contained the traditionalists such as Andrew Brons, Ian Anderson, Martin Wingfield, Tina Wingfield, Joe Pearce (initially associated with the Political Soldiers’ faction) and Steve Brady, who ran candidates under the NF banner in the 1987 general election. The Flag Group did some ideological work of their own, and the ideas of Social Credit and Distributism were popular, but the chief preoccupation was still race relations.[45] Some hoped that having two parties within one might help to save the NF from oblivion after 1979. The phrase “Let a thousand initiatives bloom” was coined (meaning that internal diversity should be tolerated) in the hope of re-capturing support, but clashes occurred nevertheless. In the 1989 Vauxhall by-election, Harrington stood as the Official National Front candidate against Ted Budden for the Flag NF, both sides cat-calling at one another during the declaration of the result[citation needed]. By 1990, the Political Soldiers had fallen out with one another, splintering into Griffin’s International Third Position (ITP) and Harrington’s Third Way, leaving the Flag Group under Anderson and Wingfield to continue alone. Griffin’s pamphlet “Attempted Murder”[46] gives a very colourful – if biased and somewhat bitter – overview of this period of the NF’s history.
Around this time, the ‘official’ NF lost much of its traditional English support as a result of its support for black radicals such as Louis Farrakhan.[47] The former supporters either moved to the British National Party (BNP), the rapidly declining British Movement, or to the White Noiseumbrella groupBlood and Honour. Griffin and Holland tried to enlist the financial aid of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, but the idea was rejected once the Libyans found out about the NF’s reputation as fascist (a quarter of Libya’s adult male population was killed by Benito Mussolini‘s troops during World War II).[48]However, the NF received 5,000 copies of Gaddafi’s Green Book, which influenced Andrews to leave the NF to form the Isleworth Community Group, the first of several grass roots groups in English local elections, whereby nominally independent candidates stood under a collective flag of convenience to appear more attractive to voters.[49][50]
An estimate of membership of the National Front in 1989 put adherents of the Flag Group at about 3,000 and of the ‘Political Soldier’ faction at about 600, with a number in between embracing Griffin’sThird Position ideas.[44] Griffin’s own estimate, as stated in a TV documentary first broadcast in 1999, was that in 1990 his International Third Position had fifty to sixty supporters, while Harrington’s Third Way had about a dozen.
In the 1990s, the NF declined as the BNP began to grow. As a result of this, Ian Anderson decided to change the party name and in 1995 re-launched it as the National Democrats. The move proved unpopular. Over half of the members continued with the NF under the reluctant leadership of previous deputy leader John McAuley. He later passed the job on to Tom Holmes. The National Democrats continued to publish the old NF newspaper The Flag for a while. The NF launched a new paper, The Flame, which is still published irregularly.
There has been a re-positioning of the NF’s policy on marches and demonstrations since the expulsion from the party in 2007 of Terry Blackham, the former National Activities Organiser. These have been reduced in favour of electoral campaigning. In January 2010, Tom Holmes resigned the leadership and handed over to Ian Edward.[51]
In February 2010, when the BNP had to change its constitution to allow non-whites into the party because of a High Court decision, the NF claimed to have received over 1000 membership enquiries from BNP members and said that local BNP branches in Yorkshire and north Lincolnshire had discussed switching over to them.[52] Prominent BNP dissidents Chris Jackson and Michael Easter joined the NF in the latter half of 2009[citation needed] while, more recently, the veteran nationalists Richard Edmonds and Tess Culnane have both rejoined the party.
On 14 September 2010, the NF publicity officer, Tom Linden, shared a debate with the Social Democratic and Labour PartyMLA, John Dallat, on BBC Radio Foyle about the support the NF had in Coleraine. This gave the NF a chance to air its views, which resulted in the NF Coleraine organiser, Mark Brown, thanking John Dallat for helping the NF double its support in Coleraine through enquiries and membership.[53]
The National Front has contested local elections since the late 1960s, but only did particularly well in them from 1973, polling as high as 15%. It never won a seat, however.[54] In the 1976 local elections the NF notably polled 27.5% of the vote in Sandwell, West Midlands, as well as over 10,000 votes in some councils.[55][56] The May 1976 local election results were the most impressive for the National Front, with the jewel in the crown being Leicester, where 48 candidates won 14,566 votes, nearly 20% of the total. However, after 1977 the NF vote-share ceased growing and by 1979 had begun to decline.[57]
During the 1980s and early 1990s the National Front only fielded a handful of candidates for local elections, but it has increased this to 19 since 2010.[33]
Although the National Front has never won a council seat in an election, it did gain a seat on 3 May 2007 when candidate Simon Deacon was elected unopposed to MarkyateParish council, near St Albans (there were ten vacancies but only nine candidates). However, Cllr Deacon soon defected to the British National Party, after becoming disillusioned with the direction of the NF.[58]
In March 2010 the NF gained its first ever councillor in Rotherham: John Gamble, who was originally in the BNP and then the England First Party (EFP).[59] However, not long afterwards he was expelled. Later the same year, a parish councillor from Harrogate, Sam Clayton, defected from the BNP to the NF.[60] However, on 29 November 2010, it was revealed that Clayton had resigned as parish councillor for Bilton in Ainsty with Bickerton ward.[61] As of mid-2011 the National Front had one councillor, who represented Langley Hill Ward on Langley Parish Council.[62] However, in September 2011 it lost its councillor after they failed to complete the necessary paper-work.[63]
In the 2008 London Assembly election held on 1 May, the National Front stood five candidates, saving two deposits – Paul Winnett of the NF polled 11,288 votes (5.56% of those cast) in the Bexley and Bromley constituency. In the Greenwich and Lewisham constituency, Tess Culnane polled 8,509 votes (5.79% of those cast) coming ahead of the UK Independence Party.
The National Front has contested general elections since 1970.
The NF’s most significant success in a parliamentary by-election was in the 1973 West Bromwich by-election: the NF candidate finished third on a high 16%, and saved his deposit for the only time in NF by-election history. This result was largely due to the candidate Martin Webster‘s own adopted ‘chummy’ persona for the campaign as “Big Mart”.
In the 1979 general election the National Front fielded a record 303 candidates, polling 191,719 votes but saving no deposits. This plunged the party into financial difficulties. This is considered to be a major factor in the decline of the NF.[by whom?]
The National Front fielded 60 candidates in the 1983 general election and received 27,065 votes. It saved no deposits, the average vote being less than 1% in each contested constituency. In 1987, the NF was split and only stood one candidate, in Bristol East, polling 286 votes (0.6%).
Since 1992, the National Front has never fielded more than nineteen candidates in a British general election (as few as five in 2001). None has saved their deposit, with their average percentage share of the vote being around 1%. However, in Rochdale during the 2010 general election, the NF candidate, Chris Jackson, polled 4.9% (2,236 votes), coming within a whisker of saving his deposit.[64]
The National Front stood for the first time ever in the Scottish Parliament general election, 2011, fielding six candidates – one for the North East region and five for the constituencies.[65] It gained 1,515 votes (0.08%) for the constituencies nationwide and 640 votes (0.2%) for the North East region. It failed to win any seats or save any deposits.
Combat 18 (C18) is a violent neo-Nazi organisation associated with Blood and Honour. It originated in the United Kingdom, but has since spread to other countries. Members of Combat 18 have been suspected in numerous deaths of immigrants, non-whites, and other C18 members.[citation needed] The 18 in its name is derived from the initials of Adolf Hitler: A and H are the first and eighth letters of the Latin alphabet. Combat 18 members are barred from joining theBritish Prison Service[1] and police.[2]
Combat 18 was formed in early 1992 by Charlie Sargent.[3] C18 soon attracted national attention for threats of violence against immigrants, members of ethnic minorities and leftists.[4] In 1992, it started publishing Redwatch magazine, which contained photographs, names and addresses of political opponents. Combat 18 is an openly neo-Nazi group that is devoted to violence and is hostile to electoral politics, and for this reason Sargent split decisively from the BNP in 1993.[5]
Sargent had split with his former C18 colleagues over allegations that he was an informer for British security services. The rival faction, led by Wilf “The Beast” Browning wanted Sargent to return to them the C18 membership list, for which they were to return his plastering tools and £1,000. However such was the animosity and fear between them that a mutually acceptable go-between, 28 year-old C18 member, “Catford Chris” Castle, was driven to Sargent’s mobile home in Harlow, Essex, by Browning, who waited in the car, whilst Castle went to visit Sargent. He was met at the door by Charlie Sargent and his political associate, Martin Cross. Cross plunged a nine-inch (22 cm) blade into Castle’s back. Browning took Castle to hospital in a taxi, but doctors were unable to save him and he died shortly after arriving in hospital.
Despite his attempting to implicate Browning, Sargent was convicted of murder at ChelmsfordCrown Court the following year. He and Cross were sentenced to life imprisonment and remain in prison to this day.[6]
Between 1998 and 2000, dozens of Combat 18 members in the UK were arrested on various charges during dawn raids by the police. These raids were part of several operations conducted by Scotland Yard in co-operation with MI5. Those arrested included Steve Sargent (brother of Charlie Sargent), David Myatt and two serving British soldiers, Darren Theron (Parachute Regiment) and Carl Wilson.[7]One of those whose house was raided was Adrian Marsden, who later became a councillor for the British National Party (BNP).[8] Several of those arrested were later imprisoned, including Andrew Frain (seven years) and Jason Marriner (six years).
Some journalists believed that the White Wolves are a C18 splinter group, alleging that the group had been set up by Del O’Connor, the former second-in-command of C18 and member of SkrewdriverSecurity.[9] The document issued by the White Wolves announcing their formation has been attributed to David Myatt, whose Practical Guide to Aryan Revolution allegedly inspired nailbomber David Copeland, who was jailed for life in 2000 after being found guilty of causing a series of bombings in April 1999 that killed three people and injured many others.
A group calling itself the Racial Volunteer Force split from C18 in 2002, although it has retained close links to its parent organization.[10] On October 28, 2003, German police officers conducted raids on 50 properties in Kiel and Flensburg that were believed to be linked to German supporters of the group.[11] The Anti-Defamation League says there are Combat 18 chapters in Illinois, Florida andTexas.[12] On 6 September 2006, the Belgian police arrested 20 members of Combat 18 Flanders. Fourteen of them were soldiers in the Belgian army. In July 2008, C18 was painted on St. Mary’s Oratory in County Londonderry.[13] In November 2008, BNP chairman Nick Griffin claimed that C18 was an “effectively fictitious” and “police-run” organisation.[14]
Racist attacks on immigrants continue from members of C18.[16] Weapons, ammunition and explosives have been seized by police in the UK and almost every country in which C18 is active.
In late 2010 five members of Combat 18 Australia were charged over an attack on a Mosque in Perth, Western Australia. Several rounds were fired from a high powered rifle into the dome of the Canning Turkish Islamic Mosque, causing over $15,000 damage.
Members of the organisation include known football hooligans. The most high profile incident involving Combat 18 members in football came on 15 February 1995, when violence broke out in the stands at Lansdowne Road in the international friendly between the Republic of Ireland and England. There was also sectarian motivated taunting of “No Surrender To The IRA” aimed at Irish fans.[17]
NOTORIOUS BRITISH NEO-NAZI SKINHEAD NICKY CRANE SHOCKS CLOSE FRIEND IAN STUART DONALDSON – FRONTMAN OF FAR RIGHT SKINHEAD BAND – SKREWDRIVER – REVEALING THAT HE IS GAY .
SHORTLY AFTER COMING OUT NICKY CRANE DIES FROM AN AIDS RELATED ILLNESS IN DECEMBER 1993
PLEASE DO BE AWARE THAT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , IT’S OWNER , OR ANY OF IT’S STAFF HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL HAVE NO AFFILIATION , CONNECTION OR INVOLVEMENT WITH ANY EXTREMIST , POLITICALLY MOTIVATED OR OTHERWISE MOVEMENTS WHATSOEVER …… WE SIMPLY EXHIBIT AND TOUCH UPON A GREAT MANY POLITICALLY INCORRECT AND TABOO SUBJECT MATTERS THAT NO OTHER VISITOR ATTRACTIONS DARE COVER IN THE WAY WE CHOOSE TO DO HERE. …. “IT’S ALL HISTORY FOR GOODNESS SAKE”….EVEN IF ON OCCASIONS, SENSITIVE , THOUGHT PROVOKING SUBJECT MATTERS THAT INCITE STRONG DEBATE .
Nicky Crane caused the British Neo-Nazi Skinheads and British Movement considerable embarrassment Crane was for some time a Nazi poster boy and very prominent in the Nazi movement in the 1980s. He was a member of the fascist British Movement Leader Guard and had something of a fearsome reputation on the cobbles. He was mates with Ian Stuart Donaldson of Skrewdriver etc. and did the security for their gigs. Crane was featured on the cover of one of the Oi! albums, looking very butch, much to the embarrassment of Gary Bushell who was promoting the music and was desperate to convince people that Oi! wasn’t involved with organised fascism. This was despite the fact that Gary Hitchcock of Combat 18 was the manager of the Oi band the 4 Skins. The 4 Skins played in Southall, a predominantly Asian area (and much recommended for cheap and delicious restaurants), which resulted in a mini-riot and the boozer being torched.
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Nicky Crane gained notoriety by being a bodyguard/compatriot of Skrewdriver, the infamous racist punk band, and as founder of Blood and Honour, the British racist skinhead movement alleged by many to be enforcers for the British National Party, a far right British political party dedicated to keep Britain the same color as milk.
Nicky Crane
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nicola Vincenzio “Nicky” Crane (21 May 1958 – 8 December 1993) was a Britishneo-Nazi skinhead activist. He came out as gay before dying from an AIDS-related illness in 1993. Max Schaefer‘s 2010 novel Children of the Sun depicts an aspiring screenwriter’s search to find out about who was the “real” Nicky Crane.
Nicky Crane joined the British Movement (BM) in the late 1970s, and by 1980, he had become the BM organiser for Kent. In 1980, he attacked ablack family at a bus stop near Liverpool Street station. For this act, he was convicted of unlawfully fighting and making an affray, and given a suspended sentence. Crane appeared on several T-shirts and calendars produced by the Aldgate skinhead shop The Last Resort during the 1980s. In 1981, he appeared on the cover of the Oi! compilation album Strength Thru Oi! (due to his skinhead appearance, not his racist views), with hisNazi tattoos partially airbrushed out.[1]
Also in 1981, he was convicted and jailed for four years for his role in a BM-organised attack on a group of black youths arriving on a train atWoolwich Arsenal railway station in 1980. He once led an attack on an anti-racist concert being held in Jubilee Gardens in London. Pictures of him storming the stage where singer Hank Wangford was performing appeared in national newspapers; although Crane was clearly identifiable, no action was taken. Released from jail in 1984, Crane soon began providing security for the white power skinhead band Skrewdriver, and remained associated with the band and its leader, Ian Stuart Donaldson, for the rest of the decade, designing two of the band’s album covers and writing the lyrics for the song “Justice” on the LP Hail the New Dawn. He was jailed again in 1986 for six months following a fight on an Underground train. In 1987, he was instrumental in setting up the neo-Nazi network Blood and Honour with Donaldson.
Crane was leading a double life as a homosexual, even serving as a steward at the London gay pride march in 1986. He was a regular at Londongay clubs such as Heaven, Bolts and the Bell pub.[2] At various times, Crane had worked as a bin man, bicycle courier, and a doorman at an S&Mclub. He worked for the protection agency Gentle Touch, and was able to shrug off any connection with the London gay scene as just part of his security work.[3] He also appeared in the Psychic TVvideo for Unclean, and in amateur gay porn films while still a neo-Nazi activist.[4] In July 1992, Crane admitted his homosexuality on the Channel 4 programme Out. On the programme, Crane and various other homosexuals explained why they were attracted to the skinhead scene. He was immediately disowned by his Nazi associates, including Ian Stuart Donaldson, who said he felt “betrayed”. The same month, the UK newspaper The Sun ran an article on him entitled Nazi Nick is a Panzi, and included a picture of Crane with his face snarling at camera, head shaved bald, braces worn over his bare torso, faded jeans, white-laced boots and brandishing an axe. Some 18 months later, Crane had died from an AIDS-related illness.
PLEASE DO BE AWARE THAT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , IT’S OWNER , OR ANY OF IT’S STAFF HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL HAVE NO AFFILIATION , CONNECTION OR INVOLVEMENT WITH ANY EXTREMIST , POLITICALLY MOTIVATED OR OTHERWISE MOVEMENTS WHATSOEVER …… WE SIMPLY EXHIBIT AND TOUCH UPON A GREAT MANY POLITICALLY INCORRECT AND TABOO SUBJECT MATTERS THAT NO OTHER VISITOR ATTRACTIONS DARE COVER IN THE WAY WE CHOOSE TO DO HERE. …. “IT’S ALL HISTORY FOR GOODNESS SAKE”….EVEN IF ON OCCASIONS, SENSITIVE , THOUGHT PROVOKING SUBJECT MATTERS THAT INCITE STRONG DEBATE .
POLITICALLY INCORRECT IT MAY BE ….. THOUGH AGAIN A PART OF OUR BRITISH HISTORY THAT WE SHOULD NOT FORGET. IT HAPPENED
Ian Stuart Donaldson, formerly of the cover band Tumbling Dice, formed Skrewdriver after seeing the Sex Pistols in Manchester. Skrewdriver at first sported a punk appearance, but they changed their image to a skinhead look. They also temporarily flirted with a rocker/biker look, around the time they released the EP Built Up Knocked Down.[2][3] In 1978, Donaldson moved to Manchester, where he recruited guitarist Glenn Jones and drummer Martin Smith. This lineup toured extensively, but certain venues were reluctant to book the band because of their reputation as a violent skinhead band. Performing largely for a skinhead audience, the first versions of the band released one album and two singles on Chiswick Records. This version of the band split in January 1979, but Donaldson resurrected the name Skrewdriver in 1982 using new musicians in a different format.[edit]Career
Although the original band had a minor reputation for attracting violence at their concerts (Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof was reportedly knocked unconscious by a friend of Donaldson who, at a concert, felt Skrewdriver’s sound had been sabotaged as the backing band),[4] they did not openly support any political party.[5] The reformed Skrewdriver eventually became openly supportive of far rightwhite nationalist groups, after a lengthy period of denying such claims.[6] Although both Skrewdriver and the band Sham 69 had skinhead followings and racist fans early in their careers, Sham 69 denounced racism and performed at Rock Against Racism concerts.[7][8] Donaldson eventually aligned himself with neo-Nazism, saying: “I would describe myself as a British National Socialist, not aGerman one, and so don’t think I’m at odds with British patriots.”[9]
The band became associated with white nationalist groups such as the National Front and British National Party, raising funds for them (and affiliated organizations) through the White Noise record label. They also released records on Rock-O-Rama, a label that became known for far-right sympathies. Skrewdriver was instrumental in setting up Blood and Honour, a neo-Nazi music promotion network.
Some members of the original Skrewdriver objected strongly to the new direction in which Donaldson took the later band. Roger Armstrong of Chiswick Records said:
It is a shame that the name was dragged through the gutter like that. The other three guys in the band were really pissed off too. Grinny the drummer came from solid northern socialiststock… When they made records for us Ian Stuart showed no signs of fascism. The skinhead image was a — maybe in hindsight misconceived — fashion thing. It was cooked up by a bunch of us, including the band’s then-management and the photographer Peter Kodik.[10]
However, John “Grinny” Grinton later stated in an interview that he had no problem with the new Skrewdriver, and that he became a member of the National Front along with Donaldson.[11]
Donaldson died on 24 September 1993 following a car crash. His death catalyzed the demise of Skrewdriver, and had a strong impact in the white power rock scene.[12]
Passing: Amy Winehouse has been found dead at her home this afternoon
The scene: Amy was pronounced dead yesterday afternoon after emergency services arrived at her house in north London
Tragic: Winehouse’s body is seen being removed from her home
Last public appearance: Amy joined goddaughter Dionne Bromfield on stage during the iTunes festival on Wednesday night
Unconfirmed: A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the cause of death has yet to be confirmed
Mourning: Floral tributes are left outside Amy’s house as news breaks of her death
Heartfelt: One note from a local resident states how much the singer will be missed in her local community
Tragic loss: Amy Winehouse was a talented and much-loved singer and performer
Full of joy: Amy performing at the start of her career back in 2004
THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION .... HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL, FOREST OF DEAN , GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UK 