August 03, 2009

Woman who intimidated Asian mother was BNP member despite councillor's denial


Operation Fightback: covering up the lies - with more lies
When a woman convicted of intimidating an Asian mother was branded a ‘BNP mum’ by the media, Councillor Paul Golding made a video vigorously claiming she had never been a member of his party. However, News Shopper has discovered she was registered as a member of the British National Party - under a different name.

The Daily Mirror said Gravesend resident Helen Forster was a member of the BNP after she was found guilty of intimidating her Asian neighbour in May. In response, Paul Golding, councillor for the St Mary’s ward of Swanley, made a video in which he claimed the reports were “outrageous lies”.

The video [above] was posted on the BNP website and YouTube. In the video, Cllr Golding said Forster "is not a member of the British National Party and she never has been". He added: “I contacted our membership department and asked them to check all of our records going back many years and she is not on there whatsoever. I spoke to Andy McBride, the south east regional organiser, and he said that no-one in the whole region had ever heard of her.”

Cllr Golding went to Forster’s home in Park Place and interviewed her on her doorstep, and she too called the reports “lies”. The 32-year-old said: “I was not a paid member, I was just a graphic designer. I produced leaflets.”

However, a woman named Helen Colclough, of the same address as Helen Forster, was registered as a member and activist for the BNP. Last week a Kent Police spokeswoman confirmed that Helen Forster and Helen Colclough are, in fact, the same person.

The video was made as part of Cllr Golding’s Operation Fightback campaign, which aims to expose so-called media lies. But when he was asked to explain why his video on Forster contained a lie, he said he could not comment. After conferring with the BNP legal team, he told us: “I was told data protection stroke litigation rules mean I cannot say anything about the story.”

Following his election in February, Cllr Golding’s political career was brought into question when details of a family member’s criminal past were exposed. His brother Jamie has been convicted of stealing cars and committing more than 150 burglaries in the Bexley and Kent area.

Last Monday (July 27), Forster pleaded guilty to common assault and perverting the course of justice at Maidstone Crown Court. She has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on September 7. The charges relate to an incident in Fort Gardens, Gravesend, on May 23. In May she was given a 10-month suspended sentence after being found guilty of intimidating her neighbour Meherjan Miah, a 30-year-old mother of four. The court heard Forster had encouraged children to throw eggs and fire an air gun at Mrs Miah’s home.

News Shopper

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Paul Golding, another candidate for the Standards Board I think.

Anonymous said...

Definitely.

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmm...Unlike Barnpott he could argue that he was unaware that she used a 'pseudonym'? and only asked the BNP about whether someone with her name (real?) was a member? By the way have they condemmened her actions and have/will they expel her?

Anonymous said...

Yep you are right Dicky could not use the arguement relating to pseudonym? cos the silly b.......d could not even pronounce it.

tulip

Anonymous said...

Golding the liar knew she was a member all along, this video was posted on the BNP website 1 day after the story was published in the Daily Mirror on 19th May. How would Golding have found a non-member so quickly? Also the BNP Colcough family live at number 95, same number as on this front door (coincidence?) If you listen very carefully at 1 minute 40 seconds into this video you hear Forster/Colcough's husband Nigel let the cat out of the bag : "It was a joint membership, it was a family thing and her name was put on it, she's only a graphic designer, she had nothing to do with it."

Anonymous said...

Then perhaps she wasn't actually a member just a bigger racist nutter than her BNP spouse...

Anonymous said...

It's obvious Golding knew that this ghastly woman used two different surnames (Colcough is her common law husband's name) . She had also done graphic art work for the BNP.The Kent police knew her as using both surnames. I think a successful complaint can be made against Golding under section 5 of the Standards Board of England's code of conduct "bringing their office or authority into disrepute." The only thing is a complaint must be made by somebody who lives in the Sevenoaks council boundary. The council's monitoring officer is called Christine Nuttall, a form must be filled out and returned to her to get the ball moving. Maybe somebody in the local Labour party can help?

http://www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/documents/complaint_form__sdc__on_website_.pdf

The Monitoring Officer
c/o The Standards Committee Assessment Panel
Sevenoaks District Council
Argyle Road
Sevenoaks
Kent
TN13 1HG