The suspended chairman of the Beckenham Conservative Association, Brian Cooke, has come under fire once again for calling the graffiti artists who were found dead yesterday on the train tracks by Loughborough Junction “common scum” and “criminals”.
Cooke, a former TfL board member, faced a fierce backlash during the local election campaign when he called for the “extermination” of the Lib Dems and is currently suspended from the local Conservative Association pending an investigation after reportedly calling a former mayor a “two-faced s***”.
The three deceased men in the Loughborough Junction tragedy were aged between 19 and 23 and it is believed they may have been struck by a freight train overnight.
Posting on Twitter yesterday, Cooke wrote: “Why do @BBCNews @tomedwards keep referring to the guys killed at #LoughboroughJunction as graffiti ‘artists’.
“They are no such thing they are common scum and criminals who cost the railway millions and keep fares high.”
Bromley Labour Group Leader, Councillor Angela Wilkins, told News in Beckenham: “Brian Cooke’s comments are offensive and show him to be ignorant and bigoted.
“Two victims still haven’t even been identified yet – and no one is certain about what they were doing on the railway. I am no lover of graffiti, but three young lives have been lost and sensitivity and sympathy for the families affected is what any humane person would feel.
“My hope is that Beckenham Conservatives expel Cooke once and for all. This type of language and attitude has no place in a political party.”
At the time of writing Brian Cooke had yet to respond to a request for comment.
Typical Gammon!