Hilary Gavin

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Addressing telecommunications failures in local policing and politics

How I felt like the black sheep in the community by asking questions we should all be raising in a democracy, not an oligarchy or theocracy

iStock pic credit image: Black sheep into herd

By HILARY GAVIN

WHEN I was a nursery school child I remember getting very jealous of one of the girls in our ballet class who had been chosen to be the black sheep in a show we were putting on for our parents in a church hall in Chichester, West Sussex.

All the rest of the children in our all-girl troupe, including me, were chosen to be bog-standard white sheep (white sheep) so we didn’t stand out on stage.

Now, I’m naturally a shy person who doesn’t like performing, and I had nothing against the cute button-nosed girl who had been chosen to be the black sheep. She was a nice girl, not a scabby-kneed tomboy like me, which was why I suppose the ballet teacher chose her for the role.

I have often chastised myself throughout my life for feeling jealous back then as a nursery school child – but I’m not sure I made my emotions known to anyone in my class or at home.

To be honest, I’ve no idea why I was so envious – but I can only believe it was all to do with my desire to express myself individually even at that tender age and not to conform to a stereo-type imposed by society.

And I couldn’t help thinking about this children’s show in an old church hall in Chichester, which was converted to a private dwelling years ago, after attending an Anti-Social Behaviour meeting as a local resident held at Hunston Village Hall this morning.

Of course, I was running late because I’d had to spend time talking to EE/BT over the phone about my faulty landline, unreliable EE Data Roaming signal – due to the thick walls in my house- and faulty BT Broadband and Openreach wifi outside in my road in the village.

I had no choice but to speak to EE/BT outside my front door where neighbours could hear me because the global telecoms utilities company isn’t providing a service and my calls to other people and emergency calls to 111, 101 and 999 continually drop out.

I reckon I’d missed half an hour or so of the presentation by PCSO Clara Babbs, Inspector Dave Lyons and CDC Anti-social Behaviour Officer Marshall Abbott when I arrived at Hunston Village Hall, which is a charity managed by our local parish councillors as its trustees.

Saying that, it didn’t take me long to feel like I was being treated like the black sheep in the village by “the great and the good” who had already convened there – as there were no extra chairs set out for late arrivals so I have to find my own in the cupboard as our parish councillors, church representatives, members of the Hunston Community Club, and a handful of other residents had occupied those already set out.

At the tail-end of her presentation, PCSO Clara Babbs advised villagers to report incidents of anti-social behaviour to the police online, over the phone or face-to-face, which dovetailed neatly into my question to her.

“How can I report these incidents to the police if our telecommunications are faulty and my emergency numbers keep falling out because I have thick walls in my house?” I explained, before adding (and I paraphrase): “Police officers should be flagging up this important local and national issue, which needs addressing in society, to the Sussex Police Commissioner, Katy Bourne, for her to raise in parliament.”

Well, I’d laid my bed by then with the police, council, church, Hyde housing and teaching representatives in the village hall – especially as I also revealed to the meeting that I was a journalist and the real problem with society today is the lack of good, responsible and honest COMMUNICATIONS.

It doesn’t take a genius to realise that I was in the minority of ONE and my question to Insp Lyons about the dangers of partisan online social media crime reporting by community groups and laypeople (possibly linked to local councils) was limited to ONE, while other members of the audience (including parish councillors) were allowed to expand on their concerns by asking multiple questions.

By the end of the meeting, there was nothing I could do to make anyone attending it believe that I was anything else than a meddling journalist – so they, a select group who should be serving the public, shrugged off my valid complaints. Instead, they told me that there was nothing the police or councils could do to address the problem of BAD COMMUNICATIONS. And I was advised to contact my utility company about our nation’s faulty emergency telecoms system. Sorry, but this is globalisation gone mad!

The issue of good COMMUNICATIONS and RESPONSIBLE REPORTING was relevant to the discussions at this morning’s meeting especially as PCSO Clara Babbs had advised residents (and I am a villager) to report incidents to the police in a responsible way.

And who better to ask about responsible reporting, online and in print, than qualified journalists fully versed in media law and crime reporting rather than laypersons – including social media community groups that could be linked to local councils.

I should say that I have, on numerous occasions, asked a local Facebook newsfeed group to openly publish their admin team on their site but I have had no joy to date. In fact, one of its members openly posted online that they weren’t bothered about perverting the course of justice by ignoring the best practices in crime reporting and refusing to abide by our country’s long-established publishing laws.

Of course, I could write a book on this important issue, so I’m going to come back to is later.

In the meantime, I should reiterate that faulty TELECOMMUNICATIONS is a matter of national security so it’s up to us all in society to make sure the government ensures our global utilities companies keep us safe.

Lives depend on it, so I for one intend to remain the black sheep in my community raising important issues to my local parish councillors, our district council and to Sussex Police who serve us – the PUBLIC – in a bid to save lives and to prevent possible local corruption.

Copyright, Monday August 18th, 2025

Hilary Gavin

A freelance journalist who wants to see a return to public accountability in the local press

Hilary Gavin

Hunston

CHICHESTER

PO20 1NY

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