Mother condemns BNP's heroin leaflet

THE parents of a heroin overdose victim have condemned a British National Party-backed leaflet blaming Muslims for the drugs trade.

The publishers of a controversial flyer, claiming Muslims were responsible for fostering the heroin market in the UK, are being investigated by police on suspicion of inciting racial hatred. Hundreds of homes in Burnley, Pendle and Preston received the leaflets, which have been condemned by political leaders in Lancashire.

Now the parents of Rachel Whitear, who died in Devon from a heroin overdose in 2000, have condemned the BNP for using a picture of their dead daughter on the leaflet. Her mother Pauline Holcroft (above) approved the use of the image, which shows Rachel's corpse slumped with a syringe in her hand, as part of posters for hard-hitting anti-drugs initiatives.

But she has confirmed that she was never asked for permission to use the picture in connection with the BNP leaflet, which was produced by Preston lecturer Tony Bamber, and backed by party members John Rowe and Brian Norton Parker.

Mrs Holcroft, from Ledbury, Hertfordshire, said: "I was truly horrified when I saw what they'd done with it. Even if one of the main political parties had asked us if they could use it in a campaign I think we would have to say no. "For the BNP to use it without even seeking our permission is an insult to my daughter's memory."

Lancashire Police's hate crimes unit was called in to investigate the leaflet, after receiving a number of complaints, and a file has now been passed to the Crown Prosecution for consideration over possible charges.

Opposition councillors in Pendle have called for Coun Brian Norton Parker, who represents Marsden ward for the BNP, to quit.

But Coun Parker, and Mr Rowe, of Cowper Street, Burnley, who unsuccessfully stood for the BNP in Rosegrove ward at the last borough elections, have defended their stance, saying they wanted to highlight the menace of the heroin trade locally.

The Preston Citizen

DG adds:

This story has had the effect of bringing out the venomous nature of the BNP and its allies in all their true - very ugly - glory.

Sample comments from Stormfront Britain, the Nazi website where so many of the BNP's leadership and members hang out:

"But they don't really want their daughter mentioned at all, do they? They don't want anything that reminds them ... and the world ... that they failed as parents."

"Sounds like there are other forces at work here. i.e someone like the UAF have jumped on the bandwagon and gone to the parents with the BNP leaflet, gave them all their usual lies and said 'we can really stitch them up here'."

"On one hand I am sorry for these people, but what have they got to be idignant about here?"

"If they can't face the truth of who sells smack, that is their problem."

And from Lee John Barnes, long term sickness-benefit claimant and legal advisor to the BNP:

"There is nothing more pathetic than these pitiful people who have seen the loss that heroin causes in their families and yet attack those who want to deal with the real problem, not just the PC version of the problem."

"Rachel was a junkie who bought heroin that funds the bombs, the killers and jihadists around the world."

"She was not a victim, those who live in the countries under attack from the jihadists are the victims."

"She was not an angel, she was an accomplice to genocide, terrorism and a funder of the most vicious criminal gangs on the planet as she funded the terrorists and gangsters that cause such misery across the planet."

"The body of every dead junkie should be photographed and hung on a wall of shame in every community so that young kids can see the real price of heroin."

"The idea we should treat with reverence the image of their dead junkie daughter is repulsive ..."

The BNP - Bloody Nasty People!