David Jack and Credit Card Killer revisited

In January 2010 David Jack was forced to resign as Liberal Democrat PPC for Stoke-on-Trent North after claims were made that he had sent racist emails.

He was later exonerated by Bradford police after a 10-month investigation during which his computers were seized and his servers searched. (The investigation was carried out by Bradford police because the formal complaint against him was made from that city.)

At the time David Jack was involved in exposing a number of dodgy finance companies who claimed to be able to get people's debts paid off by exploiting vaguely defined "loopholes" in credit law. However, those people were first asked to make a payment...

Foremost among those companies was Credit Card Killer, so it is interesting to read this BBC News story from September 2012:

A Staffordshire man has been jailed for four years after fraudulently claiming he could clear people's debts. 

Basil Rankine, 46, and his wife Amanda, 36, were convicted of a total of 14 offences, including fraud and providing misleading information. 

The couple, of Somerset Avenue, Rugeley, made more than £1m in fees through their firm Credit Card Killer by promising to buy up debt. 

Amanda Rankine was given a two-year jail sentence suspended for 18 months. 

The couple were also banned from being directors of a company for seven years.

Are the Liberal Democrats unjust to candidates who face allegations?

Writing about David Jack last night I was reminded of a similar case involving a Liberal Democrat PPC.

In April of last year, just as the general election campaign was getting underway, David Murray withdrew as our candidate for The Wrekin "on the advice of party bosses" over unspecified allegations of "sexual abuse".

Mr Murray maintained his innocence at the time and three months later it was announced that he would face no charges. But by then, of course, his political ambitions, if not his reputation, had been trashed. The original allegations always receive far more publicity than the news that there has turned out to be nothing in them.

You may say that a party has to act swiftly if allegations against an individual candidate threaten its reputation nationally, but there is a danger of that candidate suffering injustice. David Jack told me he was resigned by Cowley Street without being consulted and, reading between the lines, the same thing may have happened to David Murray. There was nothing terribly Liberal about that.

Beyond that, our anxiety to get rid of candidates facing allegations encourages our opponents to dig for dirt and then publicise it, however poorly founded their allegations are. It also accelerates the decline of British politics from a battle of ideas into a hunt for sleaze, gaffes and goofs.

David Jack was exonerated

The other day I revisited the case of David Jack, the former Liberal Democrat PPC Stoke-on-Trent North. You may recall that he was forced to stand down after claims were made that he had sent a racist email.

I had an interesting conversation with David this morning. He tells me that he was cleared by Bradford police last year after a 10-month investigation during which his computers were seized and his servers searched. It was carried out by Bradford police because the formal complaint against him was made from that city.

No evidence was found that the email in question came from his address. The original allegation was that he had sent it "from his Blackberry", but at the time he did not even own a Blackberry.

David was allowed to rejoin the Liberal Democrats last November.

He told me that he did not resign as PPC, as was reported at the time. That announcement was made from Cowley Street without his being consulted. He still awaits an apology from the party leadership.

Who did send the email?

It is probably no coincidence that Davd was involved at the time in exposing a number of dodgy finance companies. As I understand it they claimed to be able to get people's debts paid off by exploiting vaguely defined "loopholes" in credit law. However, those people were first asked to make a payment...

David Jack and Credit Card Killer revisited

Later. David Jack was subsequently exonerated.

Do you remember David Jack?

He was the man forced to resign as Liberal Democrat PPC for Stoke-on-Trent North in January of last year after claims were made that he had sent racist emails. And it also turned out that he had been involved in a long-running campaign against the company Credit Card Killer.

Earlier today anonymous comments were left on the two posts linked to above. They said that Jack had been exonerated after a police investigation and made various claims about the owners of the company.

As I could not find anything on the web to support those claims I have deleted the comments. But in the course of my research I did find this notice from Birmingham Trading Standards posted last year:

Birmingham Trading Standards has successfully obtained an interim Enforcement Order against 'debt sale' company Momentum Network Ltd trading as Credit Card Killer.

The Order, granted in Birmingham County Court, prevents Momentum Network Ltd and its owners, Mr and Mrs Basil Rankine, from:

- engaging in the unfair commercial practice of 'debt sale' whereby consumers are offered the opportunity to 'sell' their consumer credit debts without the consent of the original creditor

- making misleading claims that they can, for example, make consumers 'debt free in 2 weeks by buying their debt for £1'

- carrying on ancillary credit business as defined in the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

This is an interim Order obtained under the Enterprise Act 2002 and will remain in place until 21 April 2011 or until a further order is made.

However, the Credit Card Killer website claims in what appears to be its characteristic prose style:

Due to many incorrect reports in the media that the company has been closed down we are glad to say CCK is still trading, we are looking at our marketing literature in light of the courts comments, but as to our knowledge the law has not changed since the order was made or the past court judgments that support what we do. The interim order is not drafted precisely as some reports state, even the OFT have failed to reproduce the exact wording of the order.

If you know more about this case please send me an email rather than leave anonymous comments.

Green blogger: Many Lib Dems "defecting to the BNP"

There is a bizarre claim on the blog of Lib Dem turned Green Jo Anglezarke. Discussing the David Jack affair she says:

it confirms the view that many members of the Lib Dems are latent racists, many indeed defecting to the BNP.

[Later. David Jack was subsequently exonerated.]

It would be interesting to know what evidence Jo has for her assertion that many Liberal Democrats are defecting to the BNP.

I did link to Jo's blog for a time when she was a Liberal Democrat. But I recall her as being more preoccupied with appearing in Lib Dem Voice's "Golden Dozen" than was healthy and an occasionally prickly correspondent. (It seems I was not alone in this experience.)

Still, Jo's new blog does link to Alexei Sayle's blog. I had not seen this before, so thanks to her for the tip.

Thanks to a comment on an earlier post.

David Jack and CreditCardKiller

Later. David Jack was subsequently exonerated.

Last week I wrote about the resignation of David Jack as the Lib Dem PPC for Stoke North after claims that he had sent racist emails. I also pointed you to the Stoke-based Pits n Pots site, which reported:

Mr Jack denies that he sent the emails. Tonight he claimed that he 'was out on the lash' with twenty other individuals at the time when the alleged emails were sent. 

He also claims that he is a victim of a smear campaign in relation to a upcoming court hearing to be heard in the Royal Courts of Justice on March 24th. 

Mr Jack claims that there are a number of companies that have acted illegally with regards to consumer debt. 

He said that he makes no apologies for protecting the interests of consumers.

With this in mind, it is interesting to find a press release from a Dawn Pugh on the PR Fire website. This appears to be a site to which anyone can submit a release without charge.

Pugh's release is headed "David Jack to be Arrested Over Racist Email Attack", though nothing in the subsequent text substantiates the assertion that Jack is to be arrested.

The release claims that:

Mr David Jack, has made numerous comments and posts on consumer forums such as scam.com and consumeractiongroup.co.uk, as well as on his own website, where he has been allowed to make totally unfounded and malicious comments about CreditCardKiller, its Directors and Debt Consultants. The constant abusive language and taunts went unchecked by these forums, which are often hosted abroad outside the reach of UK law.

It goes on to make more startling claims:

CreditCardKiller has dealt with not only David Jack's making unfounded attacks against its trading practices, but also Regulators that harbour inaccurate opinions and facts, breach Human Rights Laws with the intention of furthering a smear campaign to drive the Company out of business. 

They are as much to blame for David Jack's other comments as he is, as they have flooded the media and internet with accusations that they have never proven. It is time they stop misleading consumers and retracted statements before a more serious event transpires from individuals acting on statements which they believe to be true.

Those who wish to learn more about CreditCardKiller should visit its website.

Pits n Pots on David Jack

The local news site Pits n Pots has a bit of background on David Jack, who resigned as Lib Dem PPC for Stoke North earlier today over allegations that he sent a racist email:

It seems that Mr Jack has been embroiled in an email exchange with another party where racist and abusive language was allegedly used by Mr Jack.

Mr Jack denies that he sent the emails. Tonight he claimed that he 'was out on the lash' with twenty other individuals at the time when the alleged emails were sent.

He also claims that he is a victim of a smear campaign in relation to a upcoming court hearing to be heard in the Royal Courts of Justice on March 24th.

Mr Jack claims that there are a number of companies that have acted illegally with regards to consumer debt.

He said that he makes no apologies for protecting the interests of consumers.

Later. David Jack was subsequently exonerated.

Lib Dem PPC resigns over racist email

Channel 4 News is reporting that David Jack has resigned as Liberal Democrats candidate for Stoke North after an offensive email was sent from his official email address.

The TV station says its political correspondent Cathy Newman has spoken to Mr Jack, who denies sending the email, which contains sexually offensive and racist language.

Later. A bit of local background here. Even later. David Jack was subsequently exonerated.