Have the Conservative Party let convicted woman beater Brian Coleman back in? *** Updated 3/5/2015

Of all the local Politicians in our neighbourhood, none is more infamous than disgraced former Conservative Mayor Brian Coleman. Less than two years ago, he was expelled from the Conservative Party after being convicted of a vicious, unprovoked assault of Cafe owner Helen Michael at Tally Ho Corner. Coleman received a large fine for the assault and his disgrace was completed last year when he lost his seat on Barnet Council, receiving a mere 265 votes when standing as an independent councillor in the elections. Despite the fact that Coleman was exposed as a complete liar at the trial, having spent six months telling all manner of porkies to the Police and denying the assault, until the CCTV footage showed the vicious assault. Coleman eventually pleaded guilty to the "assault by beating" of Ms Michael, having wasted months of Police time.

You may think that Coleman would be a bit repentant having gone from being one of the leading Tories in London to a shamed convict. You would be wrong. Only this week, Coleman stated on Twitter that he should have been given the freedom of the Borough for his attack on Ms Michael. Here is the exchange. Steve Ciobo tweeted his disgust at the execution of prisoners in Indonesia. See what you make of Colemans response

Steven Ciobo ‏@steveciobo Apr 28

There are few greater displays of abuse of State power and regressive thinking than the death penalty. #RIP

Brian Coleman ‏@BrianColeman251 Apr 28

@steveciobo complete rubbish , well done Gov of Indonesia for standing up to pathetic liberals like you

Rog T ‏@Barneteye Apr 28 Walthamstow, London

@BrianColeman251 @steveciobo Brian, just out of interest, what is an appropriate punishment for a man attacking a women in the street

Brian Coleman ‏@BrianColeman251 Apr 28

@Barneteye The Freedom of the Borough in my case clearly !

As you can see Mr Coleman thinks his attack was clever. The Barnet Eye believes that there is no place in public life for such a person. We happen to think that assaulting women is something which only a coward would do and only a complete idiot would boast about. Sadly though, Colemans Tory friends such as Mike Freer, the Tory candidate in Finchley and Golders Green take a rather different view. Despite Coleman admitting his guilt, Freer has never spoken out about Coleman. The two are good friends and go back a long way. Coleman engineered the palace coup at Barnet Council which made Freer council leader, propelling him into the position where he was elected MP for Finchley and Golders Green. Whilst Freer has been very vocal about issues such as same sex marriage, where he personally has benefitted from the legislation, he has been far less vocal on the subject of violence against women, something his friend  seems to think is a laughing matter. 

To my complete amazement, yesterday Brian Coleman tweeted that he's been readmitted to the Conservative Party.  Helen Michael, who had been a Tory voter until Brian Colemans parking policies wrecked her business and then assualted her, was paid a visit by the Labour candidate Sarah Sackman, with Labour front bencher Ed Balls. Unlike Mike Freer, Sarah Sackman takes the issue of  violence against women seriously. Ed Balls told Helen he wanted to show that not all high profile male politicians are thugs who beat women up and some actually want to put a complete stop to such horrible behaviour. 

Barnet Blogger Mrs Angry tweeted a picture of Helen receiving flowers from Mr Balls. Coleman, as is his want, immediately started taunting his victim Ms Michael. What followed was an exchange of tweets between myself, who was disgusted at Colemans continual harrassment of Ms Michael and Coleman, where he suggested the Tories have let him back in

Mrs Angry ‏@BrokenBarnet 22h22 hours ago

Flowers for @BuzzingHelen from ed balls pic.twitter.com/jTXg74iWrV

Brian Coleman ‏@BrianColeman251 18h18 hours ago

@BrokenBarnet @alan_s01 @BuzzingHelen well , well , well ........people will draw their own conclusions

Rog T ‏@Barneteye 18h18 hours ago

@BrianColeman251 @BrokenBarnet @alan_s01 @BuzzingHelen Brian you may be a cock but unlike Helen you have no Balls & dont use your Ed!

Brian Coleman ‏@BrianColeman251 17h17 hours ago

@Barneteye @BrokenBarnet @alan_s01 @BuzzingHelen #labourstooge

Rog T ‏@Barneteye 17h17 hours ago

@BrianColeman251 @BrokenBarnet @alan_s01 @BuzzingHelen #ToryEmbarrassment

Rog T ‏@Barneteye 17h17 hours ago

@BrianColeman251 @BrokenBarnet @alan_s01 @BuzzingHelen cleverest thing the Tories did was kick you out of the party

Brian Coleman ‏@BrianColeman251 17h17 hours ago

@Barneteye and indeed readmit me

I was completely amazed by Brian Colemans claim. Could the Torys really want to be associated with Coleman? Are they so desperate for members that they would let such a complete pariah back in? We immediately started making enquiries. We sent messages to friendly sources in the local Tories, who usually are pleased to confirm the truth of stories or set the record straight. None replied. We tweeted to Mike Freer. No reply. We contacted friendly sources in the press to see if they could find out. They contacted the Tory CCHQ, who promised to get straight back to them. As of now, none of these sources have got back. In fact our press sources seemed to suggest a certain world weariness at the request, indicating that they realised the car was going over the cliff. Given that Coleman launched a scathing attack on all his Tory Council chums when he was kicked out, we are completely amazed that they would consider readmitting such a nasty, convicted felon to the party. Of course Coleman may be lying, if he could lie to the police about assaulting Ms Michael, he can clearly lie about anything. Surely though if this was the case Freer and the Tories would have denied it immediately.

If Coleman is telling the truth, we can only speculate as to why Freer would take such a risk. Being associated with Brian Coleman is election poison. One has to assume that Freer understands the risks, so what would make such a risk worth while? Given that Coleman clearly has no base of support following his Totteridge Council debacle, what benefits could Freer possibly get? Well Mike owes Brian big time, for his patronage. When Freer was council leader, he protected Coleman when he was found guilty of breaking the councils code of conduct.  Despite this only being the first of a whole string of breaches, Freer never said a dickybird. When Coleman launched the crazy parking policies that lost him his seat on the GLA, Freer defended him and his policies. Even after Coleman assualted Helen Michael and was arrested, the local Conservative party did not suspend him. It was only when the national party stepped in that his membership was revoked.

The  situation is quite clear. The Conservative Party have to come clean about Brian Coleman. Have they let him rejoin. If this is simply another example of Coleman telling porkies, why has it taken so long for anyone to say?

Does Mike Freer think violence against women is funny?

As the picture in this weeks Jewish News shows, Mike clearly is not too concerned with sensitivity around this issue. One would rather hope that such prehistoric attitudes had been buried in the past. The blog was started by a tweet from local blogger Mrs Angry. I will give her the last word as well. I think it is 100% clear how the local Tories should have reacted to the whole Brian Coleman issue. It is time for them to bring their attitudes into the 21st Century

I wait to see what the Tories have to say about Colemans comments. I trust the good sense of the people of Finchley and Golders Green to consider what sort of party they want to see representing them.

Regardless of all of this, it is clear that a vote for the Conservatives in Finchley and Golders Green is an endorsement of Brian Coleman and his behaviour. Mike Freer has had many opportunities to take a stand and say that violence against women is unacceptable. He also had many opportunities to set the record straight regarding his views on Brian Coleman and his attack on Helen Michael. I googled Mike Freer to see if he'd made any parliamentary interventions about violence against women. The only thing I could turn up was where he contribiuted to a debate on the subject of domestic abuse to remind everyone that it can occur in same sex relationships as well..

Mrs Angry @BrokenBarnet  ·  41m 41 minutes ago

@Barneteye @rozgab @David_Longstaff Such silence speaks for itself: & if it is true that it is even possible for the Tories to readmit him..

Mrs Angry @BrokenBarnet  ·  40m 40 minutes ago

@Barneteye @rozgab @David_Longstaff this says everything you need to know about the innate moral vaccum & misogny of the party.
 

*************** Updated 3/5/2015 *************
The Plot thickens. Yesterday a whole bevvy of local local Conservatives privately and publicly contacted me to say Brian Coleman had not been readmitted. The most categorical of these was from Gabriel Rozenberg who is a Conservative Councillor for Hampstead Garden Suburb. I believe Gabriel to be a honest and trustworthy guy so I pretty much took this tweet at face value and was preparing to update this blog saying as much. Here is what Gabriel had to say

Gabriel Rozenberg @rozgab  ·  16h 16 hours ago

OK, I can confirm that Brian Coleman has not been re-admitted to any local Conservative party. AFAIK he hasn't asked; if he did we'd refuse.

So that seemed to be that. As I was out last night, I got up preparing to update the blog when I noticed this tweet from Brian Coleman in response to Gabriel

Brian Coleman ‏@BrianColeman251 1h1 hour ago

@rozgab you are of course misinformed

As I said above, Mike Freer is a friend of Brian Coleman. He could settle this matter for once and for all by speaking to Brian and clarifying the matter with a public statement. The matter is quite clear. Either @RozGab is "misinformed" or Brian Coleman is telling outright porkies to damage the local Conservative party, who clearly want us to believe they want nothing to do with him. Brian Coleman has put Gabriel in a difficult position. Mike Freer must either back Gabriel and expose this as a Coleman porkie or make sure Gabriel is given "accurate information". 

What is it to be Mike?

********* Updated 14.30 **********

 Brian Coleman just tweeted this. Seems like our local Tories have mislead us. We look forward to seeing what the Tories have to say, having assurred us he wasn't a member. I feel rather mislead

1. 1. Brian Coleman ‏@BrianColeman251 6m6 minutes ago

      apologies please from @Barneteye with promise never to tweet about me again as for @rozgab you are just a silly boy 

      
      

      
      

      
      

      

Federation of Small Business Network Breakfast with Mike Freer (how do you like your cheese?)

This morning we had the regular FSB North London Network Breakfast.  As part of the FSB's engagement with local political leaders, the FSB invited candidates from the main parties to speak to the meeting. This month it was the turn of Mike Freer. Mike is the Conservative candidate and has been the MP for the last five years.

Mike was nice and early and spent the first hour mingling with various people and chatting informally. I used to see Mike quite regularly when he was leader of the council, but realised that this was the first time I've seen him in the flesh since he was elected as MP in 2010. As he isn't my MP, I suppose that this is not really surprising. Unike some MP's who have aged visibly over the period, being an MP seems to be agreeing with Mike. He actually looked younger than he often did when he was council leader. Mike stood up and gave his presentation and I actually thought he gave a very good presentation.

He started by talking about the work of the coalition. He said the coalition had done a good job and that he wasn't going to denigrate his Lib Dem colleagues. He felt the two parties had worked very well together to put the country back on its feet. He reminded us that the treasury secretary had left his successor a note saying he'd spent all the money when Labour vacated office. He gave us some facts and figures about the economy and how well the coaition had done. Employment up, people lifted out of tax, lending improving.  Mike told us that he'd run a small business for three years and didn't enjoy the experience. He said he was glad to get his old job back at Barclays. As he was addressing an audience of people who haven't thrown in the towel, I thought this was a brave thing to announce, given that regulations were one of the reasons he cited and that has got worse with every government. Mike also told us that the government was taking a serious look at business rates reform. This would be a major boost if it could be abolished. I believe it could create up to half a million new jobs.

I have no idea whether Lynton Crosby has ordered Tories to "nice up" following the debacle of last week, but Mike was in a very jovial mood and I thought his pitch was excellent ( regular readers will know I am not generally a fan, but credit where its due).

Then on to the questions. I got in first with a question about parking. Mike said he had worked with Eric Pickles to try and improve the situation. He said that he'd had cross words with former Tory Councillor Brian Coleman over the botched scrapping of cash pay and display. He said that he didn't think parking was as important to the High Street as many businesses claim and that it would cost  £2 million. Cafe Buzz owner Helen Michael was not impressed. She told Mike that Barnet that Barnet Council had £7 million in the special parking account, which is reserved for such matters. Mike stated that if it was simple, Labour would have proposed something in the council budget. Helen was not impressed with this

The next question was on the EU. Mike (who interstingly was wearinga  purple tie) siad he thought we should have an election and he beleived the UK would vote to stay in. He was questioned about the uncertainty this would create, but pointed out there is already a degree of uncertainty and this hadn't stopped the UK attracting more investment than the rest of the EU put together. Mike stated that having the referendum would allow the UK to get a better deal. Rather bizarrely he then stated that he visits France regularly and in France no one enforces EU regulation in Cheese Shops. It seems that Barnet Tories have a bit of a cheese shop obsession. First Matthew Offord promised us a Cheese shop in Mill Hill, now Mike claims that David Cameron will change the law to make it easier removing EU bureaucracy. I suspect that Mikes hopes will prove as vain as those of us in Mill Hill who like a bit of the smelly stuff on top of our crackers! Mike very skillfully avoided actually saying whether he was for or anti EU membership.

The next question was about HS2. Did Mike personally support "wasting £80 billion" on the project. I found myself in complete agreement with Mike. He supports HS2 and would like to see such projects built far quicker. He pointed out that in France, communities campaign for such projects to come to their region and questioned why the British are so NIMBY in their attitude. He didn't mention that in France the government pays you a premium for suffering property blight, so it can be a nice little earner to have a line at the bottom of your garden. In the UK you will get screwed over by dodgy compulsory purchase legislation.

Another question was on the subject of commercial property being converted into housing. Mike quoted the example of a few office blocks that were not fit for purpose in the Finchley and Golders Green area, that were under utilised and stated this was a good thing. I asked him about what happened to Trafalgar House in Mill Hill, where dozens of businesses were thrown out of a perfectly good office block to allow developers to cash in. Mike rather ducked the question with "I cant comment it isn't on my patch answer".

I spoke to a couple of the local business owners after the meeting and asked what they thought of Mike. I was a bit surprised by the answers. The response wasn't as positive as I'd expected, given that I thought he'd done quite well "Typical politician, promise the earth before the election" was one comment. Another one was "Same old C*** as the council about parking, didn't seem to happy when the £7 million in the reserves was mentioned". Another one reminded me that they had the inheritance tax cut in the last election manifesto and said "if it won't cost anything as they claim, why didn't they do it this time?". I think people who own and run businesses are a tad cynical.

One interesting little side note. We were graced with a visit from the local Tory blogger Dan Hope,  who video'd the procedings, so if you were unlucky enough to miss the fun, you may be able to catch the repeats (strangley Mr Hope did not attend the Green or Labour sessions) on his blog at some point. I am rather hoping that the Cheese comments are preserved for posterity. 

North Finchley Traders have won the argument over parking charges

Following a long battle, which ended the career of one of our best known and most high profile Conservatives, Barnet Council has finally conceded that they got it wrong on parking and have admitted that the abolition of Pay and Display was bad for the High Street.

After intense local pressure, some changes were made in December 2012 and credit card parking machines introduced. A council report concedes that the previous regime was a disaster. The recommendations in a new report states that the experimental improvements be made permanent. It says

It has been noted that the introduction of the credit/debit card pay and display machines have had a significant impact on the patronage levels, although it is clear that pay by phone is still the primary method of paying for parking in the North Finchley Town Centre.

At last the council has admitted that it bungled the introduction of Pay by phone and that it has damaged the High Street.It is now clear that a pay on the High Street option is vital. Congratulations to Helen Michael and all of the other Finchley Traders who have been completely vindicated in their stance. The council has now decided to make the recent "improvements" permanent.

You can read the full report here on the Barnet Council website

http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s10755/Parking%20Pilot%20Schemes%20-%20Cover%20Report.pdf

The Glorious 12th - Some Barnet Tories prefer to beat bigger birds than Grouse !

Yesterday was the Glorious 12th. This is a momentous date in the calendar for a number of reasons. It is annual persieds meteorite shower, a major event in the astronomical calendar. It is also the start of the grouse hunting season. On large estates up and down the country, teams of beaters were out driving semi tame, hand reared birds into the air to be ritually slaughtered by the great and good. Apparantly it is jolly good fun and the birds love it! They have a lovely mollycoddled life, compared to the poor old battery hens which are in that tasty KFC you munched on when you came out of the pub last night.

I was amused to read the Guardian today. In the Diary section on page 29, Hugh Muir takes great schaudenfreud in the demise of former Tory bigwig and convicted criminal Brian Coleman. Muir recalls how Coleman went in the space of a little over a year from being one of the highest paid politicians in the country to being a crumpled figure of ridicule in a party of two (him and his mum). As Mr Muir recalls, the major cause of his demise was his penchant for beating birds! Unfortunately for Mr Coleman, the bird he chose to beat up was feisty cafe owner and leader of the local traders in North Finchley, Helen Michael. Coleman rather inadvisedly chose to indulge in his favourite sport outside a cafe packed with her loyal customers, on a busy hight street, in full view of a CCTV camera. (Some people may object to the term "bird" to describe Helen. Coleman prefers more colourful language to describe the local female populace, such as old hags, screaming harpies and Finchley fishwives being some of the playground insults dished out.)

When the CCTV footage was shown in court, there was a visible gasp at the sheer brutality of the thuggish violence of the unprovoked attack, by the odious oaf Coleman. His lawyer rather bizarrely announced that "the video footage is not how Mr Coleman recalls the incident". In other words, he is such a liar that he's even lied to himself.

Brian Coleman was one of the most promenent members of the Chipping Barnet Tory Party. During the period from 2009-2012, the Chipping Barnet Conservative association saw a 43.9% decline in membership.  Whilst it is clear to all and sundry that many people would not wish to be associated with a party that is run by woman beating oafs, Mr Coleman yesterday sought to blame someone else. He posted these rather bizarre tweet

Sunday Times reports Chipping Barnet Con members down from 787 in 2009 to 441 in 2012 This is the period when Richard Cornelius was Chairman
— Brian Coleman (@BrianTotteridge) August 11, 2013

@BrianTotteridge it has since fallen further over Europe,Gay marriage and supporters of mine leaving . Whole branches have ceased to exist
— Brian Coleman (@BrianTotteridge) August 11, 2013

Only Brian Coleman could claim that whole branches of the Conservative Party have ceased to exist in protest at him being thrown out for being convicted as a criminal ! Coleman clearly failed to spot the fact that during the period he chose, he was flying high for most of the time and was still technically a member at the end of 2012, as he was suspended awaiting a criminal trial. What is also rather bizarre in his tweet was the observation that people have left over the Tories policy on gay marriage. The Tory MP leading the parliamentary charge on this issue was Mike Freer. Mike Freer came to promenence as Leader of the Barnet Council. His takeover was engineered by his buddy Brian Coleman in a palace coup 24 hours after the 2006 council elections, replacing popular Brian Salinger as leader. As both are high profile gay politicians, it is perverse to assume Coleman was unaware of Freer's views when he thrust him to the helm of the Barnet party. As ever Coleman conveniently forgets his own role in the promotion Mike Freer and thus giving his views a wide platform. Mike Freer has gained much respect nationally for his honest and compassionate views on the subject. Coleman doesn't mention the dire position of the Hendon Tory, where Matthew Offord has come out against his old buddy Freer as a staunch opponent of gay marriage. Surely if his analysis were correct, the Hendon party would be seeing surging membership.


Whilst I am not exactly impressed with the policies of the Tories under Council Leader Richard Cornelius, I doubt a single person resigned as a member of the Chipping Barnet Tories because they were appalled at the behaviour of Richard Cornelius. On the other hand, I've spoken to dozens who were deeply shocked at the way oafish Coleman has conducted his business. He still seems to be in complete denial as to what a pariah and laughing stock he is becoming. As Hugh Muir wryly observes of Coleman "A twerp is still a twerp".

Helen Michael threats - New development

Helen Michael arrived at work to find this note pinned to her premises. One has to wonder at the type of character that pins such notes on the wall of a business. We all make mistakes, but one has to wonder why the apology was not made in person. One can only speculate, but there are CCTV cameras in the locality and the police were engaged in an investigation.

Rather oddly, the note claims Brian Coleman has resigned. To the best of our knowledge, Mr Coleman has not resigned and has not even given the slightest admission of contrition.

Over the course of the past year Helen Michael has been interviewed by the Police, been assaulted, had vcious smears printed in the press, been the victim of anonymous letters pinned on her door making veiled threats, all as a result of upsetting Brian Coleman. Far from being the perpetrator of any campaign of harrassment, she hs been on the receiving end of a concerted campaign of intimidation, the likes of which would be more in keeping with a banana republic. On Thursday she buried her mum.

It is time, once and for all, for this campaign of harrassment, bullying and threats to stop. Maybe this note is a sign that the penny has dropped in certain quarters. The only "crime" Helen Michael has committed to warrant this campaign of intimidation was to campaign against the unfair parking regime which Brian Coleman introduced and which his successor, Dean Cohen has spent a year trying to sort out. In short, even Colemans ex council colleagues have admitted Helen Michael was right.

If like me, you are disgusted at what has happened, then I ask you to do one small thing. Pop into Cafe Buzz and have a tea,. coffee, sandwich, breakfast, lunch or even a piece of cake. It is a great little cafe and the food and drink is good quality. I believe Helen has earned our respect and support, by standing up to this bullying, at a very difficult time for her personally. Whilst she was having to deal with the stress of the Coleman case, she also had to watch her mum suffer a terrible ordeal with cancer. She has been through the mill. She lead the campaign to sort out the parking charges in the borough. If you drive and park in Barnet, she has saved you money. The least you should consider doing is showing your support by popping into her cafe and letting her do her job. That is all she ever wanted to do.

The Barnet Eye responds to attack in Barnet Press

From Barnet Press 9/3/2013

In todays edition of the Barnet Press, there is a stinging rebuke of this blogs coverage of the Brian Coleman trial. The Barnet Press accuse this blog of being spiteful. We are accused of blurring the coverage between "criminal justice and our own sense of moral outrage over his political decisions and general character".

It will not surprise you to hear that wheover wrote the column did not bother to actually speak to the Barnet Eye before writing their comments. It will not surprise you to hear that they have not sought to give us the opportunity to present our side of the story to their readers.

Well as they clearly aren't interested in hearing our side of the story, all we can do is publish it here. Firstly lets clarify one thing. The Barnet Eye is the only Barnet blog which published its blog on the Friday, so this attack is fairly and squarely directed at us.

As far as the Barnet Eye is concerned, any sense of "crowing" which the Barnet Press may have felt was purely based on the fact that the person who subjected Helen Michael to a vicious assault had been brought to justice. Brian Colemans political career has long since been consigned to the dustbin. As author of this blog I consider Helen to be a good personal friend. Following the assault, Helen immediately called me and I was on the scene within ten minutes of the attack. I saw Helen in a state of considerable shock and distress. If it is beyond the wit of the Barnet Press to understand my repulsion and revulsion at what had happened, I think that maybe they are in the wrong job.

They may or may not be aware of the long history of antipathy felt between Brian Coleman and myself. When I took Brian Coleman to the Standards Committee in 2009, Mr Coleman told several well documented lies to the Standards investigator about my character and  my motivations. He also repeated some of these on BBC London 94.9 Vanessa Feltz show. I refuted these claims and Vanessa Feltz rapidly backtracked when the truth was pointed out to her. She immediately recognised that Brian Coleman had told porkies and mislead her. How would the author of the Press article feel if he had vicious slurs about his personal character made on London radio?

Following the 2009 standards hearing and its press coverage, several people contacted me and recounted incidents concerning the behaviour of Brian Coleman (all were female). I formed my own conclusions about his suitability for public life. These conclusions were not flattering. 

What the Press took to be "spiteful crowing" was simply relief that such a person had been exposed for what he really is. It seems likely that Brian Colemans political career is completely finished. As far as I am concerned, this is a good thing and not a moment too soon. I believe he should have been barred as a councillor following the standards complaint made by Mr Ron Cohen last year. This showed that Coleman had not learned from my case in 2009. In fact his behaviour deteriorated.

I really don't know what the Barnet Press would expect me to say in response to the conviction of Mr Coleman and the probable end of his career. Do they think I should say it is a tragedy that Coleman has got his just comeuppance for assaulting a good friend?

If the Barnet Press feel that "the level of crowing seemed petty" that is their business. Personally I think it is a well justified release of anger following six months where Coleman lied about the incident, lied about Helen Michael and sought to deceive his colleagues (with a degree of success at times) about the truth of the matter. Does the Press have no idea how stressful this period has been for Helen Michael. The Press may not be aware, but Helen has had to endure a whispering campaign against her, seemingly coordinated by friends of Mr Coleman. Other shopkeepers in North Finchley reported all manner of comments made by customers, some of whom had apparently spoken to certain Barnet Councillors.

The Press also seems to have not noticed that Mr Coleman has shown no remorse, has not apologised to his victim and not apologised to those he mislead. If he had ever shown the slightest remorse, the Press may have had a point. He hasn't and they dont. I daresay I won't get an apology from the Press either.

The sorry tale of the demise of Brian Coleman

Yesterday I attended Uxbridge magistrates court to observe the trial of Barnet Councillor Brian Coleman. Mr Coleman had assaulted cafe owner Helen Michael on 20th September 2012. Mr Coleman has spent the last eight months telling anyone who cared to listen all manner of porkies, variously claiming Helen Michael had lunged at him, that she'd attacked him, that she enticed him into parking in a loading bay (????) so she could photograph him, and that he'd not touched her. Various Tories have over the the past eight months repeated versions of Colemans account. Anyone who didn't know Helen would probably assume she was a cross between a Sumo wrestler, Lara Croft and the wicked witch of the West, with the power of mind contol thrown in from his account. Anyone who actually knows Helen and has had the pleasure of her company will know she's 5' nothing, of slight build and unlike Brian Coleman, honest and decent. They will know that she photographed Colemans illegally parked car, not because she sought to harrass him, but because she thought his flouting of parking regulations was hypocritical. She no more expected Coleman to assault her than I would expect the Queen to punch me on the nose if I photographed her at the trooping of the guard.

I was shocked by many things at the trial. The sheer violence of Colemans attack on Helen when shown on the CCTV footage. The lack of remorse from a man, who clearly thinks beating women is fine and dandy. I was shocked by the complete lack of an apology from Coleman. I was shocked by the fact that his lawyer claimed that the CCTV footage did not tally up with Colemans recollection of events. This is the heart of the matter. The man is such a pathalogical liar that he even deluded himself, convincing himself that it was all Helen Michaels fault and that he is the real victim.

In 2009, I took Brian Coleman to the Standards Committee of Barnet Council, following an incident where he sent me an abusive email (copying in every Councillor in Barnet). At the time I said that I did it in the (vain) hope that Brian Coleman might learn he should treat other people with respect. His lawyer spoke of Colemans previous good character and his "devoted public service". I was rather upset that this was allowed to go unchallenged. Coleman was the only Mayor of Barnet to be found guilty of breaching the Council standards code whilst in office. Not only that, but he failed to learn from this, being found guilty of a similar and even more awful case of abusing people by email last year.

Coleman is undoubtedly a bully. After my standards case was heard, I received five phonecalls from victims of Coleman, all of whom told a similar story. They had suffered dreadful treatment at his hands and then been bullied into backing down from their challenge. Another interesting thing was the fact they were all women. Coleman is clearly a misogynist and has a problem with women who stand up to him. Helen Michael was simply the last in a long list of women he has treated in an atrocious manner. In the case of Helen Michael, Coleman picked on the wrong person. Despite all manner of shenanigans, Helen stood firm and saw the challenge through. We are grateful to her for this. Now the world knows exactly what sort of man Coleman is.

There are several points that his council colleagues can no longer fail to acknowledge.

1) Brian Coleman is a pathalogical liar - He can't even be honest with himself.
2) Brian Coleman is a nasty, violent thug, who thinks violence towards women is just fine
3) Brian Coleman has no regard for taxpayers money. Despite knowing that he was guilty, he pretended he was innocent until the very last minute, perhaps hoping Helen Michael would back down.


I reread the blog I posted after my standards hearing today  - http://www.barneteye.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/roger-tichborne-vs-councillor-brian_10.html - Rereading it I was reminded of all the lies Coleman told in his evidence. All of them I could demonstrate to be completely untrue. Many of his colleagues read this and yet said nothing. They cannot ignore it any longer. Whilst Brian Coleman continues to sit as a Councillor, Barnet Council are condoning violence against women. Whilst Coleman remains a councillor, they condone lying to save your ass.

I have one final thing to say. The stress of this case has taken a massive toll on Helen Michael. I doubt I've ever met a more fiesty, stronger woman in my life, but she has suffered a lot. Her spat with Coleman was caused by the damage his parking charges caused her business. She has "taken one" for the whole of Barnet and we should pay her back. All I ask you to do is pop into Cafe Buzz this week and buy a Coffee, a sandwich or a meal. It's a great cafe and the least we as a community can do is give her our full support. Whether you are a fireman, a Barnet FC supporter, a trader, someone who shops in our high streets or car parks or just a decent citizen of Barnet who cares for the truth, we all owe Helen a debt of gratitude for seeing through the case. Lets pay her back. I can guarantee that a trip to Cafe Buzz is a pleasure.

Brian Coleman is guilty of assualt by beating of a woman

So after telling porkies for 8 months, Brian Coleman finally bowed to the inevitable and 'fessed up. He changed his plea to guilty of assaulting Helen Michael, just before the trial. The judge had the measure of him and summiraly dismissed his mitigation that he was fed up with "months of harrassment" by stating "you did it because it would be embarrassing to be photographers in a loading bay after passing unpopular changes to the parking regime". His punishment? Over £1,000 in fines, compensation and costs. His punishment was in the middle teir available to the judge. The fine was equivalent to a week and a half money. This reflected his reduced circumstances, following his loss of earnings resulting from his various misdemeanours.

BBC interview Helen Michael after case

The case had been moved to Uxbridge as Coleman felt he wouldn't get a fair hearing in Barnet. He objected to his address being read out and he even objected to Mrs Angry being allowed in as a journalist, having her ejected. The proceedings were hard to follow in the public gallery as the microphones weren't working.

Coleman tried to use the tweets of Helen Michael as an excuse to get a lighter sentence. Sadly it made no difference. He got what he would have got anyway. For a tier two offence, it was always likely to be a fine.

As Helen told the BBC, Coleman has been acting like a bully for years. At last he has had his comeuppance. It should be the end of his political career. Good riddance to bad rubbish !

North Fincley regeneration meeting - or how not to spend £1.6 million

So at 6.30pm yesterday, I turned up in North Finchley to go to the Arts Depot to find out about the plans to regenerate North Finchley. Parking campaigner Helen Michael had invited me along to hear how we'd be allowed to spend £1.6 million of our own money, to boost the local High Street. I've been doing some research into the Outer London fund as a background to the trip. When Sayy, the consultant who is leading the program stood up she announced "Boris has given us £1.6 million to spend improving the High Street". I was a little bit irritated by this assertion. As far as I can make out from the GLA/Mayors finances, the money has been removed from the police budget to be reallocated to splash around the Boroughs, to fund areas that bid for cash, to generally tart the place up.

We've already had a substancial amount of money in Barnet. A large grant was given to Barnet, to improve the area around Barnet Church. Has this been a huge success? Not from what I can see or from what the locals tell me. Is taking money from police budgets, to "improve" High Streets a good way to spend our money? Again I am not convinced. Sally further irritated me with a reference to "mad old buggers beating the same drums" as a reference to people talking about issues in the locality.  (Note : Sally has contacted me to correct this - She says she said "mad old buggers banging on the same old drum" - I must have misheard her)  This irritated me on two levels. Firstly, if a problem exists and the council have failed to acknowledge it, then you have to "beat the same drum" it isn't madness, it is the only way you ever get anything done. let me give you an example. My father was a pilot for bomber command. These brave mens sacrifice was never recognised. No memorial and no campaign medal. Only in the last year has this terrible decision been overturned. My Dad died in 1987, and so it was too late for him and about 90% of the survivors. It is only mad old buggers beating the same drum that sorted it. The other level it upset me on is that I run a music studio and I have about 200 customers who are "mad old buggers who've been beating the same drum" for many a year". Nothing wrong with mad old buggers, especially drummers. Local bloggers also were referred to (as an irritation with lots of energy - thanks team ! ).

She then talked about unlocking the private and charity sectors, dividing large shops into smaller units and improving training and skills. Sally informed us that she doesn't like meetings and finds them draining. I thoroughly agree with her. I've been to hundreds of meetings about Barnet, just like this one and yes, she couldn't be more correct.

Next up we had Tracy Cooper of the Arts Depot. She talked about getting the word around about all of the great things the Arts Depot do. It is a fantastic space and a great resource. I don't think we need a grant from the Mayor to do this. She is right that the people of Barnet by and large are oblivious to what is on at the Arts Depot. It has always amazed me that they have never sought to work with bloggers etc to promote the shows etc that they have on. Check there Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/artsdepot - the last tweet promoting an arts event was the 22nd Feb, they should be tweeting their program on a daily basis. They currently have 3,603 followers. This is a derisory total for such a prestigious venue and shows a real lack of ambition to promote the place. Here you go guys, a free plug for your website. I'd urge everyone to keep an eye on the place as they do have good show.

Then we had Brenda Goldberg. Tracey is a lady who has got involved for all the right reasons. She talked about knitting groups, grandma and toddler groups and other community activities which would generate a sense of community. Tracey's heart is in the right place and we need people with her motivations to step up.

Next up was Helen Michael, owner of Cafe Buzz. Helen spoke about local community, then she let slip she wasn't allowed to talk on the subject of parking. A visible hiss went up. She outlined many positives for North Finchley and asked for people to get involved.

Then Sally lead the Q&A. I don't think this went to plan. Paul Shea of Tally Ho Discount raised parking. He stated that we've seen a 20-30% drop in High Street trade since the abolition of pay and display parking. Sally said this was all very well but outside the scope of the meeting.

A local architect asked why he hadn't been approached to contribute and who had selected the architects (who are not Barnet based). I couldn't understand the answer, it involved a transparent process and there being nothing to hide. The company chosen are MUF architects (unrelated to the diving school I believe), who are based in EC1 http://www.muf.co.uk/contact-2 - I'd prefer the work to have been allocated locally, but hey what do I know. There was also  a quesion raised about the consulants fees and what percentage of the £1.6 million would this take up. Sally told us she gets £1,000 a month. Another lady told us her firm were getting £68,000. So we have identified a minimum of £82,000. I'd have preferred a lump sum figure.

Another question was asked about who decides how the money is spent. Again this was most unclear and no satisfactory answer was given. I am all for such funds, but I am always worried when there seems to be little accountability or democratic control.

There was also some disquiet amongst the disabled members of the audience at the proposal for trees to be planted outside the Arts Depot. They felt these may make accessibility more difficicult.

I also spoke. I explained that Barnet Council has failed to exploit  the opportunity to engage with the local community via social media as they have an overriding need to control everything. I stated that I've invited councillors to write guest blogs on numerous occasions to no avail. I explained that the decision to exclude parking from the remit was nonsense. I even gave Dan Hope, blogger from the Barnet Bugle a plug for the sterling work he does videoing the council. The point is, If they invested in new cash pay and display meters this would be a massive improvement and boost trade far more than a  few trees. The audience agreed, but the people with the dosh didn't. In Camden & other London boroughs, bloggers are invited to talk to the council and are the first to recieve press releases. Here they would strangle us if they could. (This morning I had breakfast with Helen Michael at Cafe Buzz. Paul Shea from Tally Ho Discount came in and said that Barnet now resembles North Korea).

At the end I was approached by a nice chap who chastised me for my negative attitude. I explained the history of the abolition of pay and display and why the scheme would fail unless this was addressed. I thena asked who he was. It turned out he worked for Boris.

Who am I? I am just a mad, sad bugger who keeps banging the same drum. What mandate do I have? None at all. Who listens to me? Well actually from the response I got, I rather suspect that quite a few people do.

This may all sound negative. I hope Sally does a good job and regenerates North Finchley. I just think that unless she persuades the council to properly engage with local people, it is a complete waste of time and cash and the money would have been better spent on coppers who could nick a few criminals and put a lid on street crime, which is becoming a scourge in Barnet. For what it's worth, I had a chat with Labour GLA rep Andrew Dismore and he agreed with everything I had to say.

Guest blog by A.M Poppy - Citation for civic award for Helen Michael

BY A.M Poppy,

 

Helen Michael has made a big difference in Barnet this year, and is an obvious recipient of the council’s civic award.

Helen initiated the campaign against the parking fees changes in Finchley, taking on a dynamic leadership role among the traders in Finchley. She now chairs the traders association – a leading force in promoting our ailing high street.

Her civic engagement, undertaken alongside running Buzz Café on North Finchley High Road, unleashed a wave of civic activism in Finchley that flowed into other social campaigns in the area, which together wrought significant changes in the community and political configuration in the area.

Helen has shaped Buzz Café into a much-needed daytime community hub in North Finchley, from which radiates a sense of belonging that other amenities on the high street have not achieved.

Helen has contributed her zeal and savvy to other local campaigns, strengthening them and igniting ever more civic engagement in the area. Other campaigns lack a figurehead, so Helen Michael has become the face of Barnet activism, which has captured the public imagination and media coverage. That prominence has come at a very high cost.

Helen’s campaigning contributed to the break-up of her relationship, that also lost Helen her home. Helen has been subjected to intimidation, late-night questioning by the police, and more recently was in hospital having a suspected broken wrist treated following a fracas with a rival opposed to her campaigning on parking fees.

This has taken a toll on her health, but Helen remains cheerful, hard working, and she continues her campaigning undaunted.

Throughout, Helen has succeeded in rallying a great deal of support from a growing number of people who take heart from Helen, see her as a powerful role model, and are inspired by her personable, modest, and clear commitment.

Helen has undoubtedly been the most inspirational personality in Barnet over the last year. She has cut a huge figure in Barnet, despite being a petite person herself. She describes herself as a simple business owner and mother, but to us she is an intelligent, unassuming lioness.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.M Poppy was the Green Party candidate for Barnet and Camden in the 2010 GLA elections. She has nominated Helen Michael, owner of Cafe Buzz in North Finchley for a Barnet Council Civic Award. Guest blogs are always welcome at the Barnet Eye.