A disgraced councillor who assaulted his ex-girlfriend and threatened to burn down her pub has launched an “absolutely appalling” online attack against the journalist who covered his court case.
Damien Enticott, who sits on Bognor Regis Town Council despite admitting assault by beating, theft and burglary, took to Facebook to criticise Sussex Newspapers crime editor Michael Drummond after his sentencing hearing was covered in the Bognor Regis Observer.
Enticott, 34, previously resigned from the Labour Party over alleged anti-Semitic comments but continues to sit on the council.
A court heard he had turned up at a pub in September last year and pushed his ex-girlfriend, causing her to be “knocked back to the floor”, before stealing £2,700 in cash from the till.
Enticott, pictured, was spared jail by Judge Roger Hetherington, but launched an attack on Michael after the Observer published a report of the hearing on Friday.
Posting on the Facebook group ‘Bognor Regis Matters’, Enticott wrote: “Thank you Michael Drummond for your subjective anecdotal ‘account’ of my life’. I do hope that you get the GCSE grade that you deserve for your efforts.
“I would like to say that you managed so well to centre a domestic argument into an article about anti-semitism which I’m sure will make your Jewish community proud. I will email you personally in respect to the legal action I choose to take now that I have been released and can finally defend myself.”
Enticott went on to claim he “never put a hand” on his ex-girlfriend, claiming such statements were a “fabrication of the truth made to secure a conviction.”
Darren Enticott’s comments on Facebook about Michael’s reporting of the case
Michael told HTFP he would prefer not to comment further on the matter, but he received support from fellow journalist Tom Cotterill, defence correspondent at Portsmouth daily The News.
Posting on Twitter, Tom described the rant as an “absolutely appalling personal attack by a disgraced (and deluded!) former councillor”.
Responding to Enticott on Facebook, Tom added: “By pleading guilty to the charges, you have effectively admitted all offences, including the assault. End of.
“As for taking legal action, good luck. Press are given legal protection to report what is said in open court so long as it is an accurate representation of what was said there. I truly hope you don’t get re-elected.”
In court, Enticott’s defence barrister said he had “significantly” reduced his offending in recent years and should be given an opportunity to address the issues in his life.
Judge Hetherington noted that Enticott had already served significant time on remand, and sentenced him instead to a two-year community order.
Sussex crime editor @MikeRDrummond has faced an absolutely appalling personal attack by a disgraced (and deluded!) former councillor from #Bognor who dodged jail for assaulting his ex-partner and stealing £2,700. Truly sickening. https://t.co/2kHoXvYB7v pic.twitter.com/Gst9qGiUNw
— Tom Cotterill (@pn_tomcotterill) February 2, 2019
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Absolutely genius choice of picture, hats off HTFP!
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As long as the report was based on accurate notes of what was said in court and was fair and balanced the reporter should feel confident about that aspect of this article.
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It’s rather like the House of Commons. Who on earth votes for these people?
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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – why do we insist on providing the likes of this guy with a stick to beat us with?
Some will argue that inter-action and feedback from readers is important, but although the idea of a comments platform looks fine in theory it is clearly way too open to abuse to be truly worthwhile.
Imagine the time spent addressing and clarifying such social media issues? Time which under-resourced and over-stretched modern newsrooms simply don’t have.
Surely the time has come to concede that this particular digital innovation has been an almighty failure?
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On the contrary, I think it was a good idea to highlight this man’s comments online. Gives the electorate a good idea of the sort of man they would be voting for.
This comment by his brief leaps off the page: ” In court, Enticott’s defence barrister said he had “significantly” reduced his offending in recent years and should be given an opportunity to address the issues in his life.”
“Significantly reduced his offending”? Oh dear.
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Jeff Jones, I thought so too. It hardly needs saying but it’s a bit American Gothic.
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