Top cop candidate under fire over "sick" Facebook banter about Jimmy Savile

5:00pm Wednesday 17th October 2012 in News Photograph of the Author Exclusive By Bev Holder

Bill Etheridge Bill Etheridge

A BLACK Country UKIP politician who is campaigning to become the West Midlands’ first elected top cop has come under fire for posting in a “disgusting” Facebook thread about Jimmy Savile.

Bill Etheridge, who is in the running to become the first West Midlands Police Crime Commissioner, posted a comment on the social networking site in response to banter about claims the late BBC TV and radio star sexually abused young children up and down the country.

The first post read: “Dear Satan, Plz can u fix it for me for Jimmy Savile to burn for eternity with a massive spike up his ***.”

Another FB poster said: “now then,now then i’d still sit on his knee and have suck on his man cigar :)...”

After which Mr Etheridge joined in with: “How’s about that then?”

Which was followed by a post by another FB user who said: “i’m glad he’s dead, leaves more kids for me”.

Mr Etheridge’s involvement in the banter has sparked outrage in the Black Country where he is busy campaigning ahead of the Police Crime Commissioner election - due to take place on November 15.

Conservative councillor Patrick Harley, who spotted the comments in a news feed on Facebook, said: “This is disgraceful, from a person who wants to run the West Midlands Police to be involved in this kind of banter of the sickest kind.

“Mr Etheridge should apologise and then forget about standing for public office in any form as he is clearly unfit. The guy is a buffoon. There are some things you just don’t laugh about.”

He is now calling on Mr Etheridge, aged 42, from Sedgley, to withdraw from the race for the top police job which comes with a £100,000 a year salary -adding: “He should resign immediately. There must be someone more suitable to stand for UKIP.”

Mr Etheridge, who is married with three step-children, said his comment was merely an attempt to highlight to his friend who started the thread “that they were being a bit silly”.

He said: “My comment was not in any way condoning.”

And he said the original post - which was not on his page - was “just expressing through humour a view that probably a lot of people hold”.

He did, however, express his disgust for the final comment posted beneath his own remark, describing it as “extremely bad taste and poor humour”.

He added: “I don’t know that person. It’s the kind of vile thing people put on Facebook.”

And he said he would be taking advice on whether the poster has broken the law.

The comments are believed to have now been removed and shortly after Mr Etheridge was contacted by the News he posted on his Facebook site: “If the allegations about the late Jimmy Saville are, as it appears, true then I can only say its a great shame he is not still alive to face trial and face a very lengthy jail term.”

It’s not the first time home fittings showroom manager Mr Etheridge, who works at Changing Rooms in Upper Gornal, has found himself in hot water through his Facebooking antics.

The self-styled politician made national headlines last year and was ousted from the Tory party after posing with a toy golliwog on the social networking site.

  • To see further response from Mr Etheridge click here

Comments(23)

Paul Oakley says...
5:47pm Wed 17 Oct 12

Cllr Patrick Harley's time would be better spent working for Kingswinford residents than being wasted on trawling Facebook. This smacks of desperation - the Tories are obviously scared stiff about their own chances in the PCC elections. And well they might be: their chances are zero with deadbeat Dave Cameron in charge of their party.

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Joanna Cunningham says...
7:26pm Wed 17 Oct 12

Ahhh here we are... Why does this Cllr insist on taking everything out of context I wonder?? Is it through fear... I guess so... This Cllr is Vile to start a CHEAP war with Bill Etheridge in this manner... And sadly, funnily enough due to close family having had this heinous crime happen to them Mr Etheridge would NEVER joke about such stuff... I suggest this Cllr resign because if he is rigid with fear over Mr Etheridge he clearly can not be dealing properly with issues on his own doorstep... Thus taking allowances under false pretences etc... I can state that I have personally done case work in that area, so what is he up to if I am needed??? No stop being cheap and resign because anyone that can use such a matter as political posturing, by taking stuff out of context is nearly as bad as the abusers... Abusing ones powers to bully out of fear is bad!!!

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topcat1965 says...
7:48pm Wed 17 Oct 12

I have known Bill and his family for years and he is an excellent dad and family man. I can only say that these so called comments were taken out of context.
Bill has supported the community for years without any recognition for his efforts. No way on earth would he, or any member of his family, actively support any member of the public that abuses children in any way! He has only ever supported good causes that help the community and environment.
The only thing I can think of is that some of the parties up against Bill are scared because they have never, and will never, put the effort that he has put in to the community he lives in.

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Joanna Cunningham says...
7:52pm Wed 17 Oct 12

Also, I must be slammed then also, because a friend of mine put a joke on my timeline with Blair and Jimmy on it and the pop went Blair’s way... You can not help some times what happens, because even the worst tragedies carry the risk of bad taste text jokes etc.. I myself have forwarded on some and thought again after... But this country again was always known for its sense of irony and sarcasm..... In NO way was anything Bill said to make light of what has happened... In fact he would flight you to flick the switch on these people... So as I said go and care for your residents Cllr you have people with POOR storage heaters and no money to heat and countless other matters MORE pressing... That way you wont have to worry about what other up and coming, sincere and hard working opponents are up to...

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Ms Finch says...
7:54pm Wed 17 Oct 12

Mr Etheridge is a fine and upstanding member of the community. He is both eloquent and diplomatic at all times in his writing (particularly on sensitive subjects), and always tries to be impartial and fair. Therefore, I can only conclude that this accusation is only an attempt to try and undermine his campaign as he is a high calibre and well qualified candidate and clearly a threat to other candidates who may wish to discredit him out of desperation. I wish Mr Etheridge every success in his campaign and look forward to seeing a much improved county as a result of his outstanding efforts.

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Sean Howlett says...
8:04pm Wed 17 Oct 12

This is clearly a politically motivated attack on Bill Etheridge and is cheap journalism at it's finest. Did Bill endorse any sick views? The answer is no. I think Cllr Harley should be very careful slandering people as it may come back to bite him. I would recommend anyone who reads this to report Cllr Harley to Conservative Central Headquarters.

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Deb Brownlee says...
8:40pm Wed 17 Oct 12

Without taking any 'political' sides in this (I have little or no interest in any of it), I can only say that I have come know Bill quite well over the last few years, and to draw any conclusion about his character or suitability for a job or post application on the basis of possibly ill judged but well meaning facebook banter (the last item of which he clearly did not see in time to moderate it out, which can happen to any of us), would be very unfair. He is clearly a person of conviction, and a devoted family man. Personally I think there are much greater issues to be addressed than this, such as the disgusting state of Dudley town centre and the cavalier and couldn't care less attitude to built heritage and many other things of far more importance. Bill is very vocal his efforts to gain representative positions and he uses facebook prolifically. Mistakes and misjudgements happen, to everyone, and not always of our own making. We need people who stand up and voice opinions, otherwise we become nothing more than a great homogeneous mass of same thinking automatons. Is that what we want? It would be very nice if politicians of all persuasions spent more time putting our country and local areas right rather than yah booing and point scoring off each other. Yawn.

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mkpdavies says...
8:41pm Wed 17 Oct 12

Dear Lord, if this is the best the old parties can do to discredit the new game in town, they truly are scraping the bottom of the barrel. The fact you chose to run this joke of a story says a lot about your credibility too. Pathetic.

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Sam Vimes says...
9:21pm Wed 17 Oct 12

Tory and UKIP reminding us all how completely and utterly unelectable they are.

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Joanna Cunningham says...
10:56pm Wed 17 Oct 12

Dear Dear Sam... Labour got us over crowded and in this mess and the Tories have no brains or balls to get us out... So please, unless you live a life of riches etc please d not trash UKIP... For one they predicted outside of this country and it came to pass... now they are trying to stop us before we sink... A little gratitude would actually be in order... Bill is at the top of the tree re UKIP and you will be VERY VERY lucky to have him... Of taht I am sure...

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Joanna Cunningham says...
11:01pm Wed 17 Oct 12

Dear Dear Sam... Labour got us over crowded and in this mess and the Tories have no brains or balls to get us out... So please, unless you live a life of riches etc please do not trash UKIP... For one they predicted outside of this country and it came to pass... now they are trying to stop us before we sink... A little gratitude would actually be in order... Bill is at the top of the tree re UKIP and you will be VERY VERY lucky to have him... Of that I am sure...

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Phil Whitfield says...
8:27am Thu 18 Oct 12

Wow, what a non story this is. Exclusive, Bill Writes on facebook. All i can say is, Bev Holder if this is the best you can up with, i think i would rather listen to the rants of Noddy Holder. I know Bill and his wife Star, and if you think for a minute Bill has a malicious thought in his head about sick subjects like this, then you are very misguided, and if Cllr Harley thinks by having a cheap shot, that i can assure you is very near the knuckle that this in any way will deter Bill from doing what he believes in, then you are sadly deluded. The old addage, todays news is tomorrows chip paper. Now i suggest you get off trolling on facebook and get some work done.

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bev holder says...
11:06am Thu 18 Oct 12

If it was that much of a non-story Phil it wouldn’t have sparked the reaction it has. It’s not for me to take a view on Bill's motives for posting on FB...the fact is he DID comment on a thread which was poking fun at the Savile scandal.
There would have been no story to report had he not said anything about this matter publicly on FB.
Bev Holder - no relation to the legendary Noddy, who I believe sings rather than rants on memorable xmas songs!

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steve Briscoe says...
12:31pm Thu 18 Oct 12

Im a socialist-labour and over the years i have got to know Bill Etheridge and his family well on FB . Like myself Bill is very passonate about what he believes in and we both agree that our current council leaders dont really think about the things that matter anymore.. the people.
The people who get into politics once they get there , they want to stay there, no matter what lies they spread about the other candidate UKIP are eating into the tory vote at present even in solid Tory areas. good news for labour ...

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RosieCockle says...
2:37pm Thu 18 Oct 12

I don't believe anyone is accusing Mr Etheridge of condoning anything - you're missing the point.
He is standing for a serious position, and anyone with an ounce of sense would know you don't go posting daft comments on daft facebook pages joking about a paedophile (of all things!) if you want to be taken seriously.
As for it being a "well meaning" comment (D Brownlee, above), what did it mean then, exactly? I'd say it was nonsense, but perhaps you can put me straight?

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Sam Vimes says...
4:17pm Thu 18 Oct 12

Joanna Cunningham wrote:
Dear Dear Sam... Labour got us over crowded and in this mess and the Tories have no brains or balls to get us out... So please, unless you live a life of riches etc please d not trash UKIP... For one they predicted outside of this country and it came to pass... now they are trying to stop us before we sink... A little gratitude would actually be in order... Bill is at the top of the tree re UKIP and you will be VERY VERY lucky to have him... Of taht I am sure...
Oh dear dear Joanna. I'm not a Labour supporter. I was commenting on the two parties mentioned in the story. That's the idea of commenting. Labour are equally unelectable. My wealth, or lack-thereof, has no bearing on my opinion or my right to state it. Most of the rest of your comment seems to be gibberish so it's hard to comment on that - unless we are to congratulate UKIP on "predicting" that places exist outside this country? That's not strictly a prediction.

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star_pumpkin says...
1:37am Fri 19 Oct 12

Lowest form of gutter politics

4:09pm Thursday 18th October 2012 in Letters
AN article was recently printed in the News Group papers following critical comments made by paid employee of the Conservative Party and senior local councillor Patrick Harley.

Cllr Harley had been trawling through my Facebook comments and found a comment I had left on a friend's page where the thread consequently evolved into very unpleasant banter regarding the late Jimmy Saville.

I consider this attack to be the lowest form of gutter politics and exactly the kind of thing that turns the general public off from bothering to vote in elections.

This attack and its implication that I take child abuse lightly is particularly hurtful as it is no secret that my wife has suffered a lifetime of mental and physical problems as a result of being abused from the age of eight until she was 15. Nobody is more acutely aware of the suffering and long-term damage this kind of behaviour causes than us. Indeed I have personally called for and campaigned for much tougher sentences for this kind of crime.

What is worse is that cllr Harley is aware of my wife`s background and the serious problems she has to deal with as a result. This was a personal attack of the most unpleasant nature. Since this article was printed, my wife has suffered great emotional distress and the return of dreadful nightmares and flashbacks to the awful incidents of her childhood. These are problems common to victims of abuse and the kind of thing that as a very happily married couple we have worked hard together to combat over the years.

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Cllr Harley was trying to score political points in order to derail the momentum gathering behind my campaign to be the West Midlands first Police and Crime Commissioner. His efforts have spectacularly backfired and our campaign to bring common sense policing and more bobbies on the beat goes from strength to strength.

Child abuse is a loathsome crime and one that is far too serious for smal- time politicians to use to try to score points. I pledge to take forward the UKIP campaign for the PCC role and once in place, use every means at my disposal to crack down on this detestable and evil behaviour.

Bill Etheridge, UKIP PCC Candidate West Midlands


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star_pumpkin says...
1:46am Fri 19 Oct 12

I would kindly ask the contributors to the above comments to read my previous post.

I think it very essential that you read this and then make further comments.

How many of you have put a comment on a friend/relatives page in response to something they've said and then later found that other comments have been made after yours, which you do not condone, do not agree with but as it is not your page you have no way of editing the responses.

I also wish people would decide what sort of people they want running our towns, constituencies, police forces, councils etc.

Do they want honest people who have lived in the real world, made odd mistakes, had a real job, is approachable, is able to understand the everyday problems of family life or do you the people want perfect specimens who haven't had any sort of life (or not one us plebs would ever get to know about) you know the type who are all holier than though but still fiddle their expenses?

So choose the type of person you want because I know the type I'd much rather have.

Thank you for reading :)

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Politicallord says...
3:38am Fri 19 Oct 12

This Tory Cllr Patrick Harley sounds like he's a Nasty little Man, sitting there at his computer trolling through everyone's messages, very creepy nasty.
We have always dealt with anguish with comedy, at funerals everyone gathers to the one telling a joke, you are showing that you care, with the jokes RE Mr Savile the hurt everyone has felt,a joke helps gives strength....

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Priory Lad says...
12:27pm Fri 19 Oct 12

Its very clear Mr Etheridge has got his FB friends to come to his defence. What a lot of them fail to understand as does he is that i am not questioning his stance on this issue.

The fact is that as a candidate for the Police Comm no candidate with any ounce of common sense should be getting involved in any FB thread that pokes fun at these type of allegations. Far better for Bill to have apologised and then moved on instead of digging a bigger hole for himself.

The facts are no one trawled through web sites, it was sent to us by a member of the public. It was also not as Bill states a cowardly attack on him as i was quite content to be quoted by the press. I could have hidden behind the usual "spokesmen quote" but that would indeed have been the actions of a coward.

To aspire for public office candidates should refrain from commenting on that particular page in the manner that he did. That then raises questions about his suitability to run the West Midlands Police of which Kingswinford is a part of. That of course means he is a legitimate target for local politicians here in the Black Country when making the gaff he has.

I have to comment on being blocked from adding any comments on his FB page as that is indeed the actions of a coward who likes to dish it out to opponents but clearly cannot take it himself.

I have no knowledge of his family history in this issue. But if what he is saying is correct then his comments in a jovial manner are even more foolish and unwise. He could have at anytime criticised the FB thread but instead chose to join in the banter.

Far from his campaign being in full throttle i think his comments in a moment of madness will come back to haunt him for years to come.

Cllr Patrick Harley

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Paul Oakley says...
12:55pm Fri 19 Oct 12

It is very clear that, public outrage not having been generated by this non-story, Cllr Harley hopes to resuscitate his damp squib with his own post.

Doubtless we are all prepared to accept that his horror at words used (or not used in this case) by public figures raise legitimate concerns about their fitness for office and that he does not highlight the issue for political advantage.

With this in mind, can anyone direct us to demands by Cllr Harley for Tory Whip Andrew Mitchell MP to resign after calling a police officer carrying out his duties a "pleb"? I can't seem to find anything.

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honestscott says...
5:57pm Sat 20 Oct 12

Disgusting journalism I hope Bill complains to the PPC !how can you justify writing a story about what others wrote on a Facebook page ? There is clear political intention here on behalf of the editorial team to give the impression that the ukip candidate wrote or authorised those posts which is completely untrue ,I look forward to reading next week a full and frank apology from the editor for trying to mislead you readers

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dudley old boy says...
1:30pm Mon 22 Oct 12

What does Cllr Harley think of David Camerons comments in westminster about Ed Balls behaving like someone with tourettes or keep sniping about Denis Skinner being a dinosaur

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