Article posted on 23 August 2015

THREAT OF DEFAMATION BY THE CHARITY SANCTUARY HOUSING

Dear Mr David Bennett CBE

Further to my email of 18 August 2015 to Sarah Warren, National Head of Customer Services, Sanctuary Housing, and others, I now address the threat of defamation.

You will recall Sanctuary’s lawyers Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co LLP, was paid by the Charity to ‘act for Sanctuary Housing Association’ and threaten defamation for an article I had written on my business website on 03 January 2015. That although I was clearly the author of the article Wragge & Co, on behalf of the Charity, made the website Hosting Company solely responsible for the article and for it’s accuracy, and threatened to sue the Hosting Company unless the article was removed.

The impact of this threat to sue was immediate and the temporary closure of my business website was threatened by Wragge & Co, on behalf of the Charity, if the article remained.

“That we request that the article in question be removed by 1pm GMT tomorrow (30/01/2015). If the article remains online at that point then we will disable the entire website until this can be resolved”, unquote.

That although the threat of defamation was not made to me directly, despite me being the author of the article and the owner of the website, the Charity did indirectly threaten my business and potential earnings and did impact negatively upon the good relationship I had with the Hosting Company and my website provider.

That the Charity did finance the suppression of Free Speech via the back door, which Wragge & Co went along with, in making the Hosting Company not only responsible for the article but responsible for the accuracy of the article.

In response to the threat of defamation upon the Hosting Company I reluctantly censored parts of the article only and after first copying and pasting it to another website where it has continued to be posted on social media in it’s original and un-censored format.

I will now repeat the parts of the article the Charity and Wragge & Co found objectionable in the hope I will, as the author of the article, be taken to court for defamation and be given the opportunity to substantiate that which I have stated. I quote :

“Featured picture this week, above, comes as a warning to would be Sanctuary tenants. It shows the consequences of external water damage to a 20 year old flat in Timber Close, St Austell. The damage was reported no less than 5 years ago and according to Sanctuary Housing the external water damage is the responsibility of the tenant to put right. The tenant is vulnerable, has long term mental disorder and is on benefits. The damage is very high up and would require special equipment.

Although Sanctuary’s Simon Clark, Managing Director, David Bennett, CEO, Cornwall Council and Stephen Gilbert MP have all long been aware of the problem, the problem remains unresolved thanks largely to the willful blindness and uncaring arrogance of the aforementioned.

This week’s “Mansell Award” is awarded to Sanctuary Housing’s CEO David Bennett who has just recently been awarded a CBE for his services to social housing. Apart from the fact the man is a criminal and the worse kind of rogue landlord in the country the award had nothing to do with the fact he is without honour and is a poor excuse for a decent human being.

For the criminality I have been personally subjected to by Mr Bennett and his perverse staff I think it more fitting if he was sacked, arrested and scrutinized in a court of law for willful fraud and deception”, unquote.

The first 2 quoted paragraphs were not mentioned by the Charity or Wragge & Co but they do serve to demonstrate that while the Charity was prepared to fund legal action it was not prepared to fund the repair of the external water damage which remains to this day, and which I find very perverse and negligent of CEO David Bennett CBE.

The above will be posted on social media and each posting will be numbered to indicate how quickly the Charity resolves this matter. I will use the photo of the water damage from the article whenever possible.

Yours sincerely

Geoff McLaughlin

34 Timber Close, St Austell, Cornwall. PL25 5NZ.

Criminally abused victim and resident of the Charity Sanctuary Housing Association.

Copyright 23/08/2015 – G R McLaughlin.