Very odd statement in Brian Colemans latest blog

Regular readers of this blog will know that the day after the alleged assault by Brian Coleman, the Reverend Adrian Benjamin turned up at Helen Michaels establishment, Cafe Buzz and started behaving in an extremely odd manner. He was observed picking up the chairs placed outside of the cafe and moving them next to some dustbins, next to a sidestreet.

The Barnet Eye was present at the time, and recognising Fr Benjamin as a long time friend and cohort of Mr Coleman, immediately went outside to  enquire what he was doing. Helen Michael accompanied me. Unbeknown to me, Helen actually knows Fr Benjamin. Her children attended a school he is associated with. She enquired "Adrian, what are you doing?". His only response was "They would look better here". As the Barnet Eye was aware of the long standing links between Benjamin and Coleman, I advised Helen at this point to be rather careful and explained the reason why. At this point, Benjamin recognised the Barnet Eye as a local blogger and started shuffling away. He then noticed Keith Martin, who he knows, in Cafe Buzz and wandered in for a chat.

Myself and Helen Michael were completely bemused by these actions. Today Brian Coleman makes a rather cryptic statement in his blog. He says

When the chips were down Adrian was there, he is no fair weather friend or clergyman who dispenses warm words and takes no action

This statement certainly makes me wonder whether there was more to the chair moving incident than a slightly confused elderly gentleman behaving as slightly confused elderly gentlemen sometimes do. It is often a mistake to read to much into the things which happen, but I am glad that I was present to witness the incident. If there are any other allweather friends of any local Conservative Councillors out there, who fancy absent mindedly rearranging Helens chairs, please be advised that she has now significantly beefed up her CCTV and a whole array of local shopkeepers and friends are keeping a steely eye on the premises. Given the pain from the torn tendons in her hand, she is in no mode to have any truck with any further attempts to improve the Feng Shui of her establishment, without her permission.

Fr Adrian Benjamin caught removing chairs from Cafe Buzz

Today I experienced the most surreal and bizarre sight in all of my years of blogging about The London Borough of Bonkers Barnet. The bloggers of Barnet have committed to support Helen Michael in every way we can. Given the horrible experience she experienced yesterday and Helens worries about what might transpire as a result, we have been keeping a close eye on Helen and her cafe today. Whilst none of us believe that this is because she faced a direct threat, we felt that the reassurance would be most welcome.

That was why I found myself at Cafe Buzz at 5pm having a cup of tea with Helen and local publisher Keith Martin (as well as a highly esteemed member of the legal profession who would rather remain nameless). We sat chatting and drinking teas, discussing what may transpire, when a truly bizarre incident happened. Fr Adrian Benjamin, a Church of England Vicar and long time friend of Brian Coleman turned up and started hanging around outside. He is known to all of us for various reasons. Helen Micaels children attended his establishment. Rather bizarrely he seemed to be hanging around rather furtively.

We then noticed that he was removing Helens out door chairs and placing them by some rubbish bins up the road. Immediately Helen and myself challenged him as to what he was doing. He replied "They look better over there". He refused to give any other answer and seemed rather confused. He then wondered in and started a conversation with Keith Martin, before shuffling off into the night.

Helen Michael was completely bemused by the incident, not least because she knows Rev Benjamin. We all speculated as to what he was doing. Helen said she cannot remember him visiting Cafe Buzz before, although she has always got on well with her. Given his appalling lack of respect for other peoples property displayed when disposing of the BAPS banner at a festival last year, I was perhaps less surprised.

I guess that unless Rev Benjamin explains his actions, it will remain a mystery. I subscribe to the view that maybe he is losing his marbles.

Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury re Adrian Benjamin

The Most Reverend the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury
Lambeth Palace
London
SE1 7JU
Via email to contact@lambethpalace.org.uk

Your Grace,

We the undersigned are writing to you to draw your attention to the behaviour of the Reverend Adrian Benjamin, the vicar of All Saints Church in Barnet.  As you are no doubt aware, the London Borough of Barnet, like many other London boroughs, is suffering huge cuts to public services. A campaign, Barnet Alliance for Public Services (BAPS), has been set up to defend these vital services and has been active in opposing many of the policies being implemented by Barnet Council. The campaign is broad based and not aligned with any political party.

As part of the campaign, BAPS intended to operate a stall at the Friern Barnet Summer Show, a local festival. Rev Benjamin is on the organising committee. Originally Rev Benjamin gave BAPS permission to have a stall, but withdrew that permission at the last minute on the grounds that he deemed the campaign to be political.

The campaigners from BAPS were offered space on another person's stall and they took part in the festival after all. When Rev Benjamin learned of this he brought some other men with him, dismantled the stall, confiscated the BAPS banner and asked the campaigners to leave the park. When later asked to return the banner, Rev Benjamin replied that it had been lost and could not be returned. Since Rev Benjamin was also extremely rude to the campaigners, an unseemly row has now developed. Rev Benjamin spoke to one of our local papers, the Hampstead and Highgate Express and made the following statement:

 “If someone came in with explosives then it would have been me who was responsible for disposing of it and as far as I’m concerned it [the banner] is as predacious as a bomb.’’ He referred to Mr Silverman (one of the campaigners) as ‘‘a rogue, a rogue.”

(The original article can be viewed here: http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/hampstead_archdeacon_called_in_over_row_with_minister_1_1009722)

Mr Silverman is a 74-year-old pensioner, who has worked tirelessly as a community campaigner in Barnet for many years. There are several questions raised by Rev Benjamin's behaviour, which we feel we must set out.

a) Shouldn't a minister of the Church set a better example in his dealings with members of the public? Publicly denigrating people who are clearly involved in community activities in the press is surely not acceptable.

b) Comparing local campaigners to terrorists is highly insulting and irresponsible. We believe that this shows an appalling lack of judgement.

c) The failure to respect the property of others and the failure to exercise a duty of care with materials in his charge shows a callous disregard for other people. The BAPS campaign has extremely limited funds and the banner will cost a significant amount to replace.

As Rev Benjamin is a part of the festival organising committee, we believe that he has brought the Church of England and the wider Christian community into disrepute. As leader of the Church, we call upon you to intervene. We believe that, at the very least, Rev Benjamin owes Mr Silverman a public apology and that he should pay for a new banner for BAPS. As to whether Rev Benjamin is a suitable candidate for such an important role in the community and the Church of England, we will leave that to your wisdom and judgement.

Yours faithfully,

Derek Dishman
John Dix
Vicki Morris
Theresa Musgrove
Roger Tichborne

(Concerned Barnet residents)

Rev Adrian Benjamin - A very stupid man indeed

The Ham & High has covered the story of how Rev Adrian Benjamin "disposed" of the Barnet Alliance for Comminty Services banner.

http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/hampstead_archdeacon_called_in_over_row_with_minister_1_1009722

To quote the article :-

Rev Benjamin, chairman of the event’s organising committee, said: “If someone came in with explosives then it would have been me who was responsible for disposing of it and as far as I’m concerned it’s as predacious as a bomb.’’ He referred to Mr Silverman as ‘‘a rogue, a rogue.”

As Benjamin is clearly a little bit dim, lets explain to him the difference between a bomb and a community banner.

A bomb is something which :-

a) You cannot simply ignore if you don't like it

b) Has the potential to kill, injure and maim people

c) Is constructed solely with the intention of damaging people and property

The Barnet Alliance for Community Services banner is :-

a) Something you can ignore, with no risk to your person or property

b) Has no asscociated risk to life, limb or property

c) Is constructed solely to prevent political decisions which will put the safety of the elderly, the young and the infirm at risk

I would suggest that if Benjamin is too stupid to be able to work this out, he's probably about as much good at being a priest as the BAPS banner would be if you wanted to use it to blow up the East Barnet Festival.

As for Benjamins comment that Julian Silverman is a Rogue, let me just say this. If he thinks that it is OK to abuse an OAP who gives up his time for free to try and save people from the effects of cuts to public services, he is a disgrace to the office he holds. He should be sacked. I personally will be writing to the Archbishop of Canterbury and requesting his dismissal. I know Julian and he cares passionately about his community. I am sickened that a supposed holder of a clerical office could say such a thing.

I had thought Councillor Robert Rams was the biggest twat in Barnet. It seems like someone is set on stealing his crown.