Picture shows Finbar Sullivan who was recently murdered on Primrose Hill.
There was recently yet another horrific and senseless murder of a young person in London. This one, owing largely in my view to the middle class nature of the victim, got much more publicity in Britain’s national media than many of the other senseless murders of young people, often by other by young people in London.
Finbar Sullivan, 21, a film student who had allegedly dabbled in the making of ‘drill’ music videos, had gone out on Primrose Hill to test out his new camera. Whilst there, there was apparently some sort of altercation and Mr Sullivan was stabbed to death. A 27 year old man, Oliuwadamilola Ogunyankinnu, Alexis Bidace, 25 and Ernest Boateng, 25 have appeared in court charged with the murder of Mr Sullivan. Khalid Abdulqadir was also charged with grievous bodily harm, violent disorder and possession of a knife at the same hearing and in connection to the murder of Mr Sullivan.
In a report from the Guardian dated April 9th, Mr Sullivan’s father, Christopher Sullivan, 65, and a former member of pop group Blue Rondo A La Turk, said that “This is the worst tragedy I could ever imagine.” I can relate to Christopher Sullivan’s emotive statement here. The worst thing in the world is to lose a child and to lose a child in such a manner, so suddenly and whilst doing a relatively normal thing as testing a new camera, in a normally relatively safer part of London is truly awful. May Finbar Sullivan’s memory be for a blessing. Like so many others who die from violence in modern London, he didn’t deserve to die the way he did.
I think anyone with any sense of empathy can understand Mr Sullivan heartbreaking situation and the Guardian article is not an easy read, this poor man’s grief just pours off the page and into the reader’s soul. Finbar Sullivan had obviously inherited his father’s creative talents and had just embarked on a career that might have seen him do great things in the arts but that promise has now been stopped by his murder.
The initial reporting of the Guardian looked to me to be pretty standard journalism of its type. There’s a tragedy and journalists interview the bereaved and the story is published as is with very little editorialisation or comment.
However in a later interview with one of the newspapers that serve North London, The Camden New Journal, about the death of his son, Mr Sullivan became distinctly political in his comments.
In the Camden New Journal article published on the 16th April Mr Sullivan took issue with public comments that drew attention to the race of the alleged murderers even though the UK government’s own crime records show that there is an issue with violence that has become endemic in some parts of London’s Black community. There are a whole shedload of reasons why there is this culture of violence in parts of this community but at least part of the reason is family breakdown, which has been encouraged by the wider society and welfare policies. A move away from religious belief, respect for education, acceptance of personal responsibility and a respect for community which has hurt mainstream society has also had disproportionate negative effects on London’s Black community.
The murder of Finbar Sullivan has brought out a lot of people who have linked this murder with London’s general decline into lawlessness and a great deal of commentary about how sections of London’s Black community have played their part in that lawlessness. This commentary has clearly upset Mr Sullivan.
The Camden New Journal article said:
"*But Finbar’s father Chris Sullivan said he will not let his son’s name be used to fuel hateful rhetoric – instead, he told the New Journal this week, Finbar will always be a “beacon of peace and love”, as he was in life.
“The hate should not be directed at minorities. It’s the government and the Met Police, they’re the ones to blame, not immigrants, not black kids,” said Mr Sullivan, 65. “If I hear anything to the contrary I’m going to really go to town with them, because Fin above all was proud to be a Londoner, proud of this multiracial, wonderful place we are.
“It doesn’t matter where [Finbar’s killer] comes from, his colour, race, creed. It’s nothing to do with that. It’s a class thing, and it’s been created by the government.”
Mr Sullivan added: “We have to look after our teenagers, they’ve just been thrown on the garbage heap. They can’t get houses, they can’t get work, can’t go to university, they’ve got no aspirations, and we’ve got a government that sanctions the killing of thousands and thousands of children [in Palestine].
“So how on earth can politicians be surprised by this? What type of message do they think that’s broadcasting to young people? It says life doesn’t mean anything, particularly if you’re not white. I think that’s what we have here. “So I hope Finbar is going to be a clarion call for all of us who can see the wood from the trees. That’s what I’m going to make it my job to do now.”
Mr Sullivan is an artist, writer and DJ who founded Soho’s famous Wag Club in 1982 and more recently set up Artists for Gaza, fundraising concerts featuring performers like Paul Weller and Suggs from Madness. The next event, expected in May, will be in Finbar’s memory. "
As might have been expected Mr Sullivan’s comments to the Camden New Journal and to other media outlets where he voiced similar opinions got massive levels of criticism. Even I a cynical ex-media type who has seen the worst of humanity in the dock at various courts was shocked by the vehemence of the criticism aimed at Mr Sullivan because of his comments. ‘Political cuck’, ‘brainwashed’ and ‘useful idiot’ were just a few of the comments hurled in Mr Sullivan’s direction.
I can, to a certain extent, see where Mr Sullivan’s critics are coming from. The Sullivan family because of their wealth has until now been largely insulated from the sort of ‘diversity violence’ and other crime problems that afflict people living in the less salubrious parts of London. They are making statements that have little or no relevance with regards to the lives that others live. I doubt very much that the Sullivan family had to deal with their child being the only British person in their class, or worry about the safety of their daughters in areas which have become dominated by those from misogynistic and violent imported cultures. The Sullivans probably mixed with the sort of minorities who were broadly decent, had self-responsibility, were hard working and a world away from the criminal scum that afflict both Black and White in other parts of London. There’s a tendency to judge groups by the individuals you know and if all your minority friends are good people, it’s easy to extend that good feeling you have towards your friends of culture X to the entire community of culture X, even though your friends from culture X might not be wholly representative of that community as a whole. For example: I’ve encountered loads of Black Americans who are decent and admirable individuals but that doesn’t mean that I’d find the same decent individuals should I choose to wander around on my own in Detroit at night.
It’s clear from the interviews that Mr Sullivan has given that the family was wholly wrapped up in ‘omnicause’ middle class left wing politics. You can see it when Mr Sullivan blames the government or the Metropolitan Police or racism for the violence problems in London and how he praises ‘diversity’. It’s also possible to see the Sullivan family’s political leanings by Mr Sullivan and Finbar’s dedication to the dangerous, destructive and racialist ‘Palestine’ cause.
Unlike some, I’m not going to go full guns blazing on Mr Sullivan’s comments. Yes, this family has now seen London’s crime problems up close and personal in a way that nobody should and his comments are a world away from how I would respond if, G-d forbid, something similar happened to me or how others who I know would react in the same situation. But, there’s also the possibility that this grieving man is holding onto his omnicause ideology because it is like a lifebelt to a shipwrecked and drowning man.
People do and say strange things when they are grieving, I should know that as I’ve been there myself. The immediate aftermath of a sudden and tragic death is unlikely to be the time when someone suddenly decides that the causes that they have supported might have helped to create in part the situation that led to the death of a loved one. In a way Mr Sullivan’s reaction in refusing to look at this terrible time whether his support of middle class left omnicause politics that might in my view have contributed to the cultural and social breakdown that spawned this crime is no different from the negative reaction of parents who have submitted their children to the butchery of gender transition when this gender ideology is challenged. These parents will cling onto the gender ideology like a limpet because to do otherwise would mean admitting that everything they believed and held to be correct was utterly and completely wrong and that because of their beliefs their child is now dead, mentally ill or sterile. Mr Sullivan will hang onto his omnicause beliefs because it is impossible for him to admit that he might been wrong, in whole or in part and that his beliefs that society’s problems are because of ‘racism’ or ‘poverty’ or ‘lack of opportunities’ and not evil individuals doing evil things which might have contributed to the breakdown in society that ended up in his son being murdered.
However, even taking account of what I’ve written above the reaction of Mr Sullivan to the death of his son is not the view I would take if a loved one was killed in similar circumstances. I’d be raging at the senseless loss but from a different perspective because I’ve had different life experiences to him.
I take the view that if I was killed for example by a kinetic contact with a sweaty Bearded Savage and his equally sweaty and eventually exploding backpack, then I don’t want any of the ‘don’t look back in anger’ shite being said about my death. I’d want the truth to be told not have comforting lies being expressed. I don’t do the ‘turn the other cheek’ thing, that’s the other lot not mine, instead I’d want the wicked and those who have assisted or encouraged the wicked, to be punished whether by G-d or man. If I was a martyr because of my faith for example, I’d want to have my death avenged by those with legitimate authority to do so and although vengeance is the job of the L-rd, sometimes He needs human hands to carry out that vengeance.
It was not racism or a lack of opportunity or the Metropolitan Police or a lack of help for ‘Palestine’ that took the life of Finbar Sullivan. He lost his life because bad people did bad things. Yes, he probably mixed with the sort of people who he should have given a much larger swerve around than he did, the drill music scene, but then journalistic work and sometimes circumstance has also led me into some shady situations with shady people, but by luck or judgement or divine providence I didn’t come to much harm, unlike some of my contemporaries who destroyed themselves by taking wrong paths in life.
As I said in the title of this piece, I do find Mr Sullivan’s attitude inexplicable to a large extent, it’s not how I would act, but I can also see reasons why he has said the things he has and how his social circle might have influenced his beliefs and now these beliefs are all he’s got left. His grief is raw now, raw like a recent wound and it might only be when that wound has scabbed over that he may be able to examine whether his viewpoint is correct or as many others seem to believe whether it was woefully mistaken.
Finbar Sullivan has joined the many thousands of young people who have ended up as violent death statistics in a city where general ethical standards are collapsing at an alarming rate. It’s another tragedy that should not have happened and which might not have happened had London and indeed the nation, been run differently.
Links
Guardian article with interview of Mr Sullivan senior
BBC report into the court appearances of those accused of offences connected to the murder of Finbar Sullivan.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c33ll261gndo
Camden New Journal article which has sparked a great deal of controversy.