22 January (Part 1) - The power of the internet
The
appeal
to Bonkers’ readers for information relating to
the Maxine Fothergill affair
has brought forth some rather interesting information. I think I now know quite
a lot of what happened but vital mysteries remain.
The principal missing bit is the name of the elderly lady
who may have sold her home at a less than premium price and her precise address. I know the road so a
trace via the Land Registry should find the house (maybe I should say bungalow) number
and that should lead to her name and that of the council officer who bought it.
Not that that is really needed, it is already obvious who did so.
Every tranche of new information brings forth new shocks. The old lady was
honoured with a ride in the Mayoral limo. That will require a lot of explanation.
The question is, how deep does corruption go within Bexley Council?
The use of the limousine implicates the Mayor at the time, Councillor Howard
Marriner. I have no idea at the moment whether he is up to his neck in it or
merely an innocent bystander, just as much a victim as
the old lady; if she really is. She may have been paid well and given a ride in
a limo!
The following is an FOI which may possibly shed some light on the matter. Bexley
Council won’t want to release the diary but they were
taken to the Information
Commissioner for the same thing more than three years ago and lost that case. Everything
will come to he who waits.
Please supply a copy of Councillor Marriner's Mayoral Diary for the months of November and December 2014 and January 2015.
The answer to yesterday’s quiz question should now be clearer.
Councillor Maxine Fothergill manages property in Mariners Walk and allegedly
takes £7,000 a month out of it. Howard Marriner at the very least, allowed his
Mayoral car to be used on very unofficial business. The info has come from several sources.
Maxine Fothergill for her sins has been asked not to pull a stunt like that
again and has been removed from the Appeal Committee. Quite some punishment eh?
A meeting of interested parties has been called for next week - including my
retired police Inspector friend, Michael Barnbrook - to pool documentation and
discuss whether it is sufficient to put criminal allegations to the police.
If we get a Labour Mayor of London in May he should be a lot less likely to
interfere in Bexley’s judicial processes than his Tory predecessor. I suspect
that is why CPS consideration of the Will Tuckley/Cheryl Bacon case is delayed
from 18th December until 5th February.
Note: For the record my team of three won the pub quiz even
though the next smallest team numbered six. I came home £9.33 richer which was
more than I spent on beer. A good omen for the Fothergill investigation?