Saturday, January 27, 2007

The Shame of Cllr Dave Fitzpatrick

Today,I recieved an anonymous package posted through my letterbox.In it was a video tape,a set of witness statements,and an anonymous letter.Anonymous for fear of reprisals.A letter explaining how COUNCILLOR and DEPUTY LEADER OF THE COUNCIL Dave Fitzpatrick took an eighteen year old,Carl Harris, into his public house,shut the door and then along with other men inside the pub, beat this young man up till he was covered in blood.The reason for the attack? Cllr Fitzpatrick had claimed that the young man had been directly involved in an incident at his pub earlier that evening where a young man who had been drinking in his pub had been lured outside and attacked.This allegation made by CllrFitzpatrick was later dismissed by a judge in court and it was deemed that at the time of the earlier incident,Carl Harris had been nowhere near the pub.As if this isnt bad enough,what the video tape showed me was absolutely incredible.

The video contained CCTV footage of the incidents that took place after Carl Harris was dragged into Cllr Fitzpatricks pub.Young men,obviously angry at the fact that Carl had been dragged into the pub,were kicking the door of the pub.One young man can be seen to smash two windows.No one can condone this behaviour in any way shape or form.However,what can be condoned even less is a ward councillor,leading cabinet member,and deputy leader of this council dragging a young man into his premises and setting about him, whilst he was defenceless, with other men.Worst was to come.A few minutes after the youth had smashed the second window,Fitzpatrick emerged from the pub brandishing a chain along with five or six other men and chased these youths up the road.The men that emerged from the pub with Cllr Fitzpatrick could be seen breaking a for sale sign post into bits and handing them among each other to be used as weapons.One man can be clearly seen brandishing a house brick.

The last time I saw images like these was on one of those late night police programmes that show reams of CCTV footage showing thugs on the rampage at football matches or running amok in city centres late at night.Its not what I or anyone else should expect from a ward councillor and deputy leader of the council.

Even though he was caught on CCTV camera,even though it is obvious that young Mr Harris was beaten up by Fitzpatrick and others behind closed doors in his pub,even though all the witness statements provided by Cllr fitzpatrick and the others totally conflict with each other,even though in court according to the letter Fitzpatrick denied brandishing a chain,only to be shown the CCTV footage which showed he was,NO CHARGES were brought against him! Incredibly according to the letter I recieved, he got off with that by saying he couldnt remember carrying one. Complaints that were lodged by the young mans parents were conveniently forgotten about.Infact according to the letter that I received, a seargent Barker who was involved throughout,informed the court that the complaint against Fitzpatrick for assault had been dropped by the young mans parents which the letter says is totally untrue.It also states that no charges were brought against Fitzpatrick because the police felt that it wasnt in "the best interests of the public"!!!

How can this type of behaviour be tolerated from someone who as DEPUTY LEADER of REDCAR AND CLEVELAND BOROUGH COUNCIL is supposed to be above violent conduct on this scale? More importantly just how did the police fail to press charges against Cllr Fitzpatrick? On the video footage he can be seen clearly holding the chain whilst the police are there stood next to him and they do nothing? Something is drastically wrong when police photographs taken of the young mans injuries the following day go missing,only to turn up in court on the day of the hearing as part of the prosecutions file? What relationship do the police have with this council when they fail to press charges against someone who has not only been a party to an assault but has also brandished a chain in a violent manner?

The whole lot stinks to high heaven.The police dismissed hate mail sent to me as not constituting a criminal act.They refuse to investigate the council over the matter even though they told me they knew that the mail that I, and Cllrs Findley and Lanigan recieved, had come from someone inside this council.Yet they fail to press charges against a lead councillor who is acting like a drunken thug and investigate two young men for thirteen weeks for fly posting at the councils insistence, because the fly posters accused Cllr Dave Fitzpatrick and Steve Kay and Chief Executive Colin Moore of being corrupt? On the 22nd of December Inspector Colin Askey was quick to point out that the two young men were guilty of criminal damage,but if that was the case and what they had done was so wrong,then why were they not prosecuted?

I'll tell you why because the council didnt want it to come out into the public domain further which taking them to court would have done.I have spoken to one of the young men at length about the whole fly posting issue and he told me that shortly after they were let off without charge,Colin Moore invited them to the council for a meeting where he basically tried to sweet talk them into keeping quiet in future.

The situation within this council is out of control.The person who sent me the letter stated that they went to the Gazette and Radio Cleveland with the story and the video tape but they didnt want to know. What I find saddest of all,is that the person has come to me with this as a way of getting the truth out and for justice perhaps to be done.What good are the police if they fail to safe guard the public? If they prefer to cover up for the guilty just because they are deputy leader of the council? What good is the media if they fail to report the truth?

I have been on the receiving end of Cllr Dave Fitzpatrick.Along with Cllr Chris Abbott he started an untrue smear campaign that I was a member of the BNP.Violence,smear campaigns,lies.Is this what we expect from those we elect to serve us?

I will scan and post the letter I recieved and all the conflicting witness statements soon.A copy of the video is on its way to London.





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