Don Ecker is a grumpy old American who, like David Farrant and Anthony Hogg, obsesses about Bishop Seán Manchester on a regular basis. Though they only know him via the interent, it is quite apparent that both Mr Farrant and Mr Hogg are intimidated by Don Ecker. They even come across as being afraid of this vulgar Neanderthal. Each list him as their Facebook friend and both provide links to his objectionable blogsite where libellous allegations against Bishop Manchester is a common feature along with copyright infringement of stolen images provided by Mr Farrant who copied them illicitly for that purpose. When Don Ecker had some of these photographs belonging to Bishop Manchester removed from his Facebook page under legal notice, he immediately begged his small coterie of FB friends for assistance:
"Hey All ... I need some help. Where in FB can you contact the people running this? I have a major complaint and I need to contact someone. I have l looked everywhere and can not find a link or name or telephone number. Pleassssse??"
His complaint, which Facebook naturally ignored, was that pictures owned by Bishop Seán Manchester stolen by Mr Ecker had been deleted from his FB page. These infringed photographs linked to his blogsite where legal notices have also been consistently ignored by his service provider and friend Don Peek of Coastland Technologies. (Mr Peek has also divulged confidential material to hate sites after receiving legal notices concerning infringed material owned by Bishop Manchester on those sites run by anonymous individuals).
Within no time, Don Ecker exploded in a comment on David Farrant's Facebook page:
"Well David, Bishop Bonkers (that is actually ol' Sean Manchester) struck again! It appears he doesn't like my Dark Matters blog posting ... 'Is The Bishop a Nutter??' He whined, sniveled and cried to FB claiming an infringement of copyright. Now, how can that whining and sniveling little ol' holy joe have copyright on ...MY FREAKEN BLOG?? Hmm? I ask you? You know, I think I will dedicate another whole show to him and pull out all the stops. Yep, just might do that."
Threats from the aging bully are commonplace, and FoBSM have certainly grown used to them down the years. David Farrant quickly made an offer which the American frothing at the mouth was quick to accept:
"Just let me know if you want me on the show again. Don, a PS. Did I ever send you a copy of my book "The Seangate Tapes"? If not, I will put one in the post for you. Its a classic!"
Don Ecker replied:
"Good morning David. No, you didn't send me that but it does sound fascinating! Would love to read it!"
To which Mr Farrant responded:
"I've just packaged it up for you Don, and will post tomorrow. I might as well put Pact with the Devil in with it as well, but the other thing will come a little later. Boy! will you have some fun when you read "The Seangate Tapes" book. For now, David."
"David ... I can HARDLY WAIT!" panted Don Ecker.
David Farrant commented further on his own blog:
"I heard from my friend American Radio Broadcaster, Don Ecker, to say he received the two books I sent him last week, and he has read them. I better not repeat what he said here, but let’s just say I don’t think he has a very high opinion of ‘nutters’ who go around wearing teas pot cosies!"
The infantile reference to "tea pot cosies" is Mr Farrant's coded allusion to Bishop Manchester's biretta.
You have to keep reminding yourself that these are two elderly pensioners: an Englishman in his mid-sixties, and an American who is even older still!
Anthony Hogg had the same insulting comment posted by Don Ecker on his Facebook page. Mr Hogg responded:
"G'day Don. Good to hear from you! Yeah, he's a troublesome, dodgy sort. Leaves a nice trail of buffoonery behind him. This is the latest example."
Recovering stolen property, according to Anthony Hogg, is now to be regarded as "buffoonery."
On his self-congratulatory blogsite, Mr Ecker makes any number of personal attacks on Bishop Manchester with the mandatory stolen images to accompany each malicious swipe. On an entry titled "Is the Bishop a Nutter?" Don Ecker's true colours are revealed, as he barely contains himself:
"Now, let me tell you a little bit about the guy that shoveled all that shit out there……. Sean Manchester" Don Ecker begins, and it is not long before we are being treated to more of his remarkable eloquence: "Well, I almost popped a blood vessel. ... This was after Manchester, under an assumed computer user identity, accused me of being an 'American War-Monger' because of my Viet Nam service. As I said later, I was soooooo happy I was here (So. Calf.) and not there (England-UK) because I just wouldn’t trust myself if I happened to 'bump' into good ol’ Sean. ... So remember Sean, it is never a good idea to go out of your way to piss someone off who buys ink by the gallon and spend their spare time in front of a radio microphone. It will come back to bite you …. you Holy Joe … you."
In fact, Bishop Manchester has never had any contact with Don Ecker. It was a member of FoBSM (a female) who referred to Mr Ecker as a "war monger." This came about following Mr Ecker turning nasty after he approached FoBSM to arrange a radio interview with the bishop. Don Ecker had been desperately trying to interview Bishop Manchester for years until he finally gave up and settled for David Farrant who managed to lead the American up the garden path with very little difficulty. The open threat from Don Ecker of what he would do if he bumped into the bishop, unfortunately, is typical of the man.
David Farrant started posting his familiar abuse on the blog comments at the invitation of Don Ecker. Then some balancing commentary appeared courtesy of FoBSM until the man who claims the American Constitution's first amendment allows him to say what he likes, using infringed images in the process, decided that "free speech" was to be curtailed if an opinion other than his own was being heard. The comments' section abruptly ended with this statement:
"Hear Ye This! Further comments on this topic are CLOSED! If you all wish to continue, do so on Mr. Farrants blog, Net Curtain Lurkers, The Pussy Meows, or where ever. I no longer am accepting further comments here. Don Ecker, Administrator."
Don Ecker wrote a vampire novel fifteen years ago which he is constantly plugging. It appeared a decade after the first edition of The Highgate Vampire was published to great acclaim. Indeed, Mr Ecker purchased a copy of the bishop's non-fiction work. His own less than successful first (and last) attempt at writing a book might have caused some envy towards Bishop Manchester whose book still remains a bestseller in its category, and is currently under option for a major cinema film. The trouble with Don Ecker's novel is that it reflects the man and his poor command of the English language with a tedious story that is almost impossible to read. If the amateurish presentation of language fails to put the reader off, the absence of any convincing or coherent storyline certainly will.
Envy, coupled with the fact that Don Ecker has failed at every attempt made to interview Bishop Manchester to boost the ratings of his self-serving radio show, is probably the reason the man has now turned to publishing libel. It is no more than you would expect from a pathetic bully who cannot get his own way.
.
As Hallowe'en approached, Mr Ecker decided it was time to interview Mr Farrant again via the telephone. It was only a matter of minutes before both engaged in an unadulterated hate-fest where each sought to lead the other in a mad scramble to introduce fabrications and lies. As Mr Ecker struggled to lead a hesitant Mr Farrant into fresh areas of calumny, it was not long before their joint defamation of character reached a new and disgusting low. More than three quarters of the interview was devoted entirely to issuing falsehood about the bishop; mocking and ridiculing him while declaring him mentally deranged. And this from one of them, Mr Farrant, whom psychiatrists appointed by the courts in the UK found difficulty in agreeing whether he was sane enough to stand trial. Don Ecker made the startling admission that if Bishop Manchester is a Christian, then he would rather be on the Devil's side. We thought he already was!
David Farrant repeated all the same libel from past interviews he has given with whoever is daft enough to provide him with a platform, including Mr Ecker, where he employs every piece of incitement against the bishop that he can dream up. This includes the malicious allegation that he was once was a member and canvassed for the National Front. Don Ecker is never slow to seize upon any libel that comes his way without requiring a a shred of evidence.
As Hallowe'en approached, Mr Ecker decided it was time to interview Mr Farrant again via the telephone. It was only a matter of minutes before both engaged in an unadulterated hate-fest where each sought to lead the other in a mad scramble to introduce fabrications and lies. As Mr Ecker struggled to lead a hesitant Mr Farrant into fresh areas of calumny, it was not long before their joint defamation of character reached a new and disgusting low. More than three quarters of the interview was devoted entirely to issuing falsehood about the bishop; mocking and ridiculing him while declaring him mentally deranged. And this from one of them, Mr Farrant, whom psychiatrists appointed by the courts in the UK found difficulty in agreeing whether he was sane enough to stand trial. Don Ecker made the startling admission that if Bishop Manchester is a Christian, then he would rather be on the Devil's side. We thought he already was!
David Farrant repeated all the same libel from past interviews he has given with whoever is daft enough to provide him with a platform, including Mr Ecker, where he employs every piece of incitement against the bishop that he can dream up. This includes the malicious allegation that he was once was a member and canvassed for the National Front. Don Ecker is never slow to seize upon any libel that comes his way without requiring a a shred of evidence.
.
Bishop Seán Manchester's position is quite clear. He has no interest in party politics and has at no time in his life been a member of any political party. False claims to the effect that he has been a National Front member, and indeed canvassed for them, stem solely from David Farrant; the same David Farrant who attempted to stand as a WWP candidate in the 1978 British General Election; the same David Farrant who recommended that potential voters should switch to the National Front when he stood down; the same David Farrant who has sought and received support from Nazi-minded individuals with far right associations to attack Bishop Seán Manchester.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Bishop Manchester was the North London Regional Co-ordinator for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and an active member of Pax Christi. His peace campaigning was supported by such eminent figures as Lord Fenner Brockway, often resulting in media coverage. When Manchester led the "Fast for Peace" one Christmas he was joined by the elderly Lord Brockway and other peace campaigners. On that occasion thugs believed to be Neo-Nazis attacked those fasting. This was reported by local newspapers at the time. So the suggestion by Mr Farrant that the bishop is, or ever has been, a Neo-Nazi is not only risible but ludicrous in the extreme.
Bishop Seán Manchester's position is quite clear. He has no interest in party politics and has at no time in his life been a member of any political party. False claims to the effect that he has been a National Front member, and indeed canvassed for them, stem solely from David Farrant; the same David Farrant who attempted to stand as a WWP candidate in the 1978 British General Election; the same David Farrant who recommended that potential voters should switch to the National Front when he stood down; the same David Farrant who has sought and received support from Nazi-minded individuals with far right associations to attack Bishop Seán Manchester.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Bishop Manchester was the North London Regional Co-ordinator for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and an active member of Pax Christi. His peace campaigning was supported by such eminent figures as Lord Fenner Brockway, often resulting in media coverage. When Manchester led the "Fast for Peace" one Christmas he was joined by the elderly Lord Brockway and other peace campaigners. On that occasion thugs believed to be Neo-Nazis attacked those fasting. This was reported by local newspapers at the time. So the suggestion by Mr Farrant that the bishop is, or ever has been, a Neo-Nazi is not only risible but ludicrous in the extreme.
.
John Pope in his Neo-Nazi attire during the 1970s.
.
John Russell Pope, a collaborating supporter of David Farrant since 1973, has a long history of Neo-Nazi involvement. He has forwarded articles to the National Front in relatively recent times. He still resides at the London home of his late uncle, Bill Binding, who was in the news in 2001 when he attempted to join the Conservative Party:
.
"Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith says he will be looking at whether action is needed over reports that a former deputy leader of the Ku Klux Klan in Britain has joined the Tory party. Bill Binding, 76, from Clapton, east London, who stood for the far-right British National Party (BNP) in the 1997 election, told the Guardian he had left the Klan four years ago after deciding different races were genetically alike."
.
Mr Binding's nephew John Pope nowadays runs Jack the Ripper tours in East London. On his website, Mr Pope describes himself as “a master of the black arts, a third degree witch and Odinist … a natural shaman and master of Yoga and other preternatural mysteries and systems.” He also claims to be a descendant of Robin Hood, as well as being of “blood line to Jack the Ripper and Dracula.” For decades he and his close associate David Farrant have been openly hostile toward Bishop Seán Manchester. John Pope, who nowadays styles himself "Pope-de Locksley," is dubbed on his website as “The Scariest Man in London.”
When interviewed by Don Ecker recently, Mr Farrant stated he has never had any interest or involvement in politics. Is this claim true? We need to go back to the 1970s to discover that David Farrant's past involvement goes a long way to explaining why he makes the NF slur against Bishop Manchester. In fact, if we examine almost any of the hostile attacks made upon the bishop by Don Ecker and David Farrant, eg terms such as "media whore" and the constantly repeated "bonkers," we learn much more about David Farrant than Bishop Manchester. Even Anthony Hogg, certainly no friend of the bishop, regarded such phrases as extremely hypocritical, and said so, after listening to the interview, on a public forum.
.
.
David Farrant became more confident and published a letter in the Hornsey Journal, 21 July 1978, which stated:
.
John Pope continued with his Neo-Nazi associations, and more recently published a piece in the journal of the south-western branch of the National Front, an organisation with overtly Neo-Nazi views. He has belonged to survivalist groups and has always managed to maintain contact with some of the most extreme movements to have existed on the far right. David Farrant has a history of association with people with Neo-Nazi ideology. He connects, for example, to names such as Philippe Welte and Jean-Paul Bourre, two Frenchman who greatly admired Hitler at the time Mr Farrant was in regular collusion with them in the 1980s and 1990s. Mr Farrant's own self-published pamphlet Beyond the Highgate Vampire includes a photograph of Jean-Paul Bourre whom he describes in the caption beneath as "a leading Satanist attempting to invoke the Devil." What he fails to mention is his close friendship and collaboration over the years with Mr Bourre. There are others with whom Mr Farrant has been associated who have far right connections. Kenneth Frewin, for example, a National Front supporter, acted as David Farrant's "minder" throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and allowed his council flat address to be used for hoaxed letters (as did Audrey Connely and Nava Grunberg) to newspapers such as the Hampstead & Highgate Express. Mr Frewin also collaborated in some of Mr Farrant's bizarre publicity stunts, on one occasion adopting the pseudonym "Kenny French." Ironically, Nava Grunberg (who only allowed her address to be used, not her name) is a Jewess. She allowed her Hampstead Lane address to be used for scams and stunts orchestrated by Mr Farrant down the years. Audrey Connely and Kenneth Frewin both allowed their names, as well as their addresses, to be used for counterfeit letters to local newspapers supporting Mr Farrant's non-existent "ghost" in early 1970. The letters were all written by Mr Farrant, as confirmed by Anthony Hill, the person he collaborated with to perpetrate the hoax. Even Mr Hill, forty years ago, had Neo-Nazi sympathies; though he no longer does so today. Like his fascination with black magician Aleister Crowley, he grew out of such political extremism. The question remains: did David Farrant?
When interviewed by Don Ecker recently, Mr Farrant stated he has never had any interest or involvement in politics. Is this claim true? We need to go back to the 1970s to discover that David Farrant's past involvement goes a long way to explaining why he makes the NF slur against Bishop Manchester. In fact, if we examine almost any of the hostile attacks made upon the bishop by Don Ecker and David Farrant, eg terms such as "media whore" and the constantly repeated "bonkers," we learn much more about David Farrant than Bishop Manchester. Even Anthony Hogg, certainly no friend of the bishop, regarded such phrases as extremely hypocritical, and said so, after listening to the interview, on a public forum.
Back in the 1970s, however, tabloid journalist Frank Thorne accompanied David Farrant on a train journey to Grimsby where he was photographed with "fiancée" Nancy O'Hoski outside a church for a half-page feature about their proposed wedding. Published in the Sunday People, 16 April 1978, Thorne's article opens with the following words:
.
"Self-styled witch king David Farrant - the man jailed for desecrating a tomb and threatening detectives with voodoo - has a new shock in store. What's more, Britain's best-known Prince of Darkness is dreaming of a traditional white wedding."
.
The article quoted Mr Farrant as saying; "I want to put my ghoulish past behind me now. Either I give up witchcraft or Nancy."
.
.
Soon after the story was printed, David Farrant gave up Nancy O'Hoski, a speech therapist (he suffers from a nervous stammer). They did not get married. There was never any intention on Mr Farrant's part of them getting wed. Then came an interesting turn of events. Within days of the publicity generated by his abandoned wedding plans in the Sunday People, Mr Farrant prepared to stand as a candidate in the forthcoming British General Election. He launched what was described as the "Wicca Workers Party" to the cry of "Wiccans Awake!" Journalist and editor Peter Hounam wrote a front page story for the Hornsey Journal, 30 June 1978, that thundered:
.
"A new peril for candidates fighting the marginal Hornsey constituency emerged this week with news that some of their supporters who indulge in witchcraft may switch their votes to the 'Wicca Workers Party' in the General Election. David Farrant, who lives in Muswell Hill Road, is fighting under the slogan 'Wiccans Awake'."
.
.
.David Farrant became more confident and published a letter in the Hornsey Journal, 21 July 1978, which stated:
"It is not my intention to use your letter columns to promulgate the views of the Wicca Workers Party or to become involved in futile argument with any of your readers, but having seen the opinions expressed in the letter columns of the Journal, I feel that I should set the record straight. In fact, the WWP is a serious political party and has growing support from people all over the country; including other political groups with whom we are now amalgamated."
.
.
.John Pope continued with his Neo-Nazi associations, and more recently published a piece in the journal of the south-western branch of the National Front, an organisation with overtly Neo-Nazi views. He has belonged to survivalist groups and has always managed to maintain contact with some of the most extreme movements to have existed on the far right. David Farrant has a history of association with people with Neo-Nazi ideology. He connects, for example, to names such as Philippe Welte and Jean-Paul Bourre, two Frenchman who greatly admired Hitler at the time Mr Farrant was in regular collusion with them in the 1980s and 1990s. Mr Farrant's own self-published pamphlet Beyond the Highgate Vampire includes a photograph of Jean-Paul Bourre whom he describes in the caption beneath as "a leading Satanist attempting to invoke the Devil." What he fails to mention is his close friendship and collaboration over the years with Mr Bourre. There are others with whom Mr Farrant has been associated who have far right connections. Kenneth Frewin, for example, a National Front supporter, acted as David Farrant's "minder" throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and allowed his council flat address to be used for hoaxed letters (as did Audrey Connely and Nava Grunberg) to newspapers such as the Hampstead & Highgate Express. Mr Frewin also collaborated in some of Mr Farrant's bizarre publicity stunts, on one occasion adopting the pseudonym "Kenny French." Ironically, Nava Grunberg (who only allowed her address to be used, not her name) is a Jewess. She allowed her Hampstead Lane address to be used for scams and stunts orchestrated by Mr Farrant down the years. Audrey Connely and Kenneth Frewin both allowed their names, as well as their addresses, to be used for counterfeit letters to local newspapers supporting Mr Farrant's non-existent "ghost" in early 1970. The letters were all written by Mr Farrant, as confirmed by Anthony Hill, the person he collaborated with to perpetrate the hoax. Even Mr Hill, forty years ago, had Neo-Nazi sympathies; though he no longer does so today. Like his fascination with black magician Aleister Crowley, he grew out of such political extremism. The question remains: did David Farrant?
.
Mr Farrant’s Wicca Worker’s Party poster. A comparison is made,
(below) with a section of the League of Imperial Fascists’ poster.
