{"id":1001,"date":"2018-11-01T22:39:38","date_gmt":"2018-11-01T22:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saveoursandwellcanadageese.org.uk\/?p=1001"},"modified":"2018-11-01T22:51:50","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T22:51:50","slug":"remember-remember-brunswicks-5th-of-november","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saveoursandwellcanadageese.org.uk\/?p=1001","title":{"rendered":"Remember, remember Brunswick’s 5th of November"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"S1220002\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a goose free cruelty article, but summarises the behaviour of two of the main protagonists in the cull of Sandwell’s geese. The one is an ex parks manager, whose biased report<\/a> appears to have led to the culls in 2013 and 2014. The other purported to lead Sandwell council and had ambition to become the metro mayor of the coined “West Midlands Greater Authority” before his death in April 2016.<\/p>\n

This post summarises the bonfire event which took place in Brunswick Park in Wednesbury in 2014<\/strong> and the subsequent events where members of the public were injured by a so called “stray firework” – that being the tagline that Sandwell council and its leader were happy to promote in the media, until a freedom of information request revealed significantly more <\/a>about the organisational shambles that was operating on that fateful night.<\/p>\n

Though he was lauded in eulogies by the political class and his friends in the media, Darren Coooper was a deeply unpleasant man in life. Not only was he involved in a long social media trolling campaign with others against a Birmingham woman <\/a>whose husband had began to expose the institutional Council corruption rife under his leadership, but he\u00a0looked after those around him , seemingly unable with the Chief executive, Jan Britton<\/strong>, Monitoring officer Neeraj Sharma<\/strong> and audit risk manager Peter Farrow<\/strong>,\u00a0 to detect any of the activities of fraud and corruption and wrongdoing occurring at the authority, not least of his own then Deputy.<\/p>\n

If it hadn’t been for Julian Saunders’, “Sandwell Skidder blog” ,<\/a> it is unlikely that any of the wrongdoing would ever have come to light- especially when the mainstream local media danced to his tune and\u00a0his thuggishly tribal football\u00a0firm analogies and West Bromwich Albion, an organisation he gleefully boasted about ripping off as a child by sneeking into the ground.<\/p>\n

I could write much more, but I’ll leave that to Julian Saunders,\u00a0though perhaps all you need to know about Darren Copper, the man the myth, and his intellect can be summed up in his own posting below. You are as they say “what you eat”.<\/p>\n

\"glut2\"<\/a>

Fuel, bangers, mash… to continue the bonfire leitmotiv.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sandwell Council actively promoted the 2014 “free event” on social media at the Wednesbury park leading up to the night in question. This is perhaps where the planning went out of the window, as well as several thousand pounds up in smoke.<\/p>\n

\"bp4\"<\/a>

There was a planned schedule of events<\/p><\/div>\n

\"bp5\"<\/a>

Cooper himself liked the tweet<\/p><\/div>\n

The council also put out this gem on twitter.<\/p>\n

\"bp6\"<\/a>

Perhaps PROBAN overalls , Kevlar vest, gloves and helmet should also have been advised!<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The following\u00a0story concerning the Brunswick Park event and aftermath appeared in this BBC new article the following day. <\/a><\/p>\n

It was reported in this article that three people had been injured<\/strong> with others treated for minor panic related injuries.<\/p>\n

Another BBC article from the same day <\/a>reported that the crowd had been “double that had been expected”.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It also quotes then Cabinet Member Maria Crompton.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"bp7\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We see here then the threads that Sandwell council would attempt to present in subsequent media interface.<\/p>\n