How can an 18 yr old be "groomed" exactly if they are an adult & over the age of consent.
Also I think the article has a grubby undertone to it. If this guy had serious mental health issues & eventually committed suicide, it cant JUST be down to this relationship with a comedian??
Totally agree. By the end of the article I was thinking ooh I wonder who that is (I hope it is not who I eventually thought of as my only reason was 'he's openly gay' which seems rather unjust). But that's what the Mail have done by publishing this story, create a little witchhunt and the whole case sounds rather more complex than the initial headlines. Based on the information reported it sounds like the right thing for the judge to protect the identity of the comedian but I am sure the rumours will be all over twitter shortly.
How can an 18 yr old be "groomed" exactly if they are an adult & over the age of consent.
Also I think the article has a grubby undertone to it. If this guy had serious mental health issues & eventually committed suicide, it cant JUST be down to this relationship with a comedian??
If someone is offering you work and gifts and expecting sexual favours in response I'd say that's close to what grooming is. There doesn't seem to be a mutual relationship and he told his sisters he was worried something wrong was going on. Being 17/18 doesn't mean you can't feel pressured into doing things, especially if it's someone influential like a celebrity.
The stuff about groups of men stripping him off and touching him sounds completely messed up too. Again that doesn't sound like a normal relationship between him and the comedian.
It's on twitter - he made a comment about Ben Cowburn in 2011 - dedicating his show to him when he died. It's not graham norton, Alan Carr, Simon amstell, grimmers, Paul o'grady or any other obvious person
I thought it all happened when he was 17 and he turned 18 after the events?
Ben, by then 18, began to hint about troubling sexual experiences in London, and tried further attempts at self-harm and suicide. He was found dead in his bedroom on December 20, with a plastic bag close by.
I wouldn't like it if anything like that happened to one of my children - male or female, even over the age of consent.
There's a homophobic undertone to this article.
The old cliche of the older man grooming an innocent teenager into the " homosexual lifestyle". Like its a hobby.
Irrespective of the reality of the relationship this is the suggestion the article is hinting at.
Typical DM bigotry.
There is a gay comic who dedicated one of his Gigs to Ben in 2011. That comes up in a search.
However as everyone has said. The article is typical Daily Mail anti gay crap. Its purely designed to create a witch hunt. Don't fall for it.
Well firstly, the really nasty thing about the article is that it leaves it open to the reader to think it's one of the well known Gay comedians like Norton, Carr etc when it clearly isn't any of them. While this person has been on TV a fair bit he's not what you would call particularly successful and isn't at household name levels.
If you know a but about the history of the person suggested by twitter then the lifestyle suggested in the article isn't exactly as surprise. But I agree it's a nasty article.
I may be seen as prud but a 40+ year old with a 17-18 year old gay or straight feels like taking advantage. Fair enough if there was some attempt of a relationship but using them as a play thing at drug fuelled party's doesn't sound like they have any consideration for the boys feelings at all.
Although it is the DM so it's probably to be taken with a pinch of salt
What was the name of that old guy from Emmerdale Farm as was? The old guy with the gigantic sideburns? Ran the Woolpack withe the other old guy, Mr Wicks or Wilks?. I was wondering if he still alive
He was first person I thought of when I saw Mail's silhouette picture - it looks like the man has a short Afro, so presumably they want people to guess.
He was first person I thought of when I saw Mail's silhouette picture - it looks like the man has a short Afro, so presumably they want people to guess.
I didn't think of him until I saw the clues on here, but going back to the article and reading again you're right about the silhouette.
What was the name of that old guy from Emmerdale Farm as was? The old guy with the gigantic sideburns? Ran the Woolpack withe the other old guy, Mr Wicks or Wilks?. I was wondering if he still alive
Comments
Totally agree. By the end of the article I was thinking ooh I wonder who that is (I hope it is not who I eventually thought of as my only reason was 'he's openly gay' which seems rather unjust). But that's what the Mail have done by publishing this story, create a little witchhunt and the whole case sounds rather more complex than the initial headlines. Based on the information reported it sounds like the right thing for the judge to protect the identity of the comedian but I am sure the rumours will be all over twitter shortly.
If someone is offering you work and gifts and expecting sexual favours in response I'd say that's close to what grooming is. There doesn't seem to be a mutual relationship and he told his sisters he was worried something wrong was going on. Being 17/18 doesn't mean you can't feel pressured into doing things, especially if it's someone influential like a celebrity.
The stuff about groups of men stripping him off and touching him sounds completely messed up too. Again that doesn't sound like a normal relationship between him and the comedian.
I wouldn't like it if anything like that happened to one of my children - male or female, even over the age of consent.
The old cliche of the older man grooming an innocent teenager into the " homosexual lifestyle". Like its a hobby.
Irrespective of the reality of the relationship this is the suggestion the article is hinting at.
Typical DM bigotry.
However as everyone has said. The article is typical Daily Mail anti gay crap. Its purely designed to create a witch hunt. Don't fall for it.
Well firstly, the really nasty thing about the article is that it leaves it open to the reader to think it's one of the well known Gay comedians like Norton, Carr etc when it clearly isn't any of them. While this person has been on TV a fair bit he's not what you would call particularly successful and isn't at household name levels.
If you know a but about the history of the person suggested by twitter then the lifestyle suggested in the article isn't exactly as surprise. But I agree it's a nasty article.
Although it is the DM so it's probably to be taken with a pinch of salt
Feb 2011 a black comedian who uses his first name then middle initial then surname dedicates his show to him.
Special K?
46 years old.
41 at the time that was all happening.
Not illegal, and the Met are saying it was consensual. The press are indeed homophobic on this one, but that is one huge age disparity.
Crazy days and Nights is and American website so she would be classed as foreign ....now you don't need to be confused anymore ;-)
See post 4518
I didn't think of him until I saw the clues on here, but going back to the article and reading again you're right about the silhouette.
Wasn't sure if it was him or the American guy