Petition against Justin Lee Collins appearing in Big Brother reaches 2,000 signatures
A PETITION launched by the family of Justin Lee Collins' ex-girlfriend after rumours that the Bristolian could be due to appear in Celebrity Big Brother has reached 2,00 signatures.
The e-petition calls on Channel 5 to drop any plans it might have to put Collins into the house after he was found guilty of harassing his ex-girlfriend Anna Larke.
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Justin Lee Collins
Collins, who lived with Ms Larke in London after separating from his wife in Clifton, was recently sentenced to 140 hours of unpaid work.
During his ten-day trial the court heard details of the couple's tempestuous relationship in which they frequently fell out and argued.
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Video games public relations worker Ms Larke, 38, claimed Collins subjected her to various levels of emotional and domestic abuse.
Collins, who now lives in Kew, south-west London, made a name for himself with Channel 4's The Friday Night Project. He denied the charge of harassment and said recovering alcoholic Ms Larke, who moved in with him in January 2011, was "obsessive, jealous and possessive".
Rumours are now circulating that the comic is being pursued to appear in Channel 5's Celebrity Big Brother, due to air in January.
The petition, which is believed to have been set up by Ms Larke's brother Alex and addressed to Channel 5, says: "Withdraw offer for Justin Lee Collins to appear to Celebrity Big Brother".
Mr Larke also wrote: "Justin Lee Collins is a convicted domestic abuser who put my sister through a sustained campaign of emotional abuse.
"It's disgusting that Channel 5 have selected him."
Anna Larke has signed the petition and left a post on the petition saying: "His sustained emotional, mental, verbal abuse broke me.
"My treasured family and friends have been through hell.
"Yes he was convicted. But what message are Channel 5 giving?
"That domestic violence isn't that bad and it's probably women being silly?
"I need women and men who have been abused to feel they can come forward about the abuse they are receiving.
"Not have them see this kind of a crime so trivialised that a convicted perpetrator is asked to appear on a show."
Other people have also signed the petition, offering their support to the move by the Larke family.
Channel 5 has not yet officially confirmed who will be appearing on the show, but there have been reports that he is one of the celebrity contestants.
No one from Channel 5 was available for comment.
Comments
by Mikeyb2010
Monday, December 17 2012, 7:47PM
“Nothing C5 like more than a bit of controversy surrounding the "housemates" so unless the petition gets up to serious numbers then they are just securing his slot in the house.
Lots of celebs have a few skeletons in the closet, but that shouldn't prevent them earning a living just as it shouldn't stop anyone else in any walk of life”
by vrwrtuy
Monday, December 17 2012, 5:30PM
“In the words of the great song Tie a Yellow Ribbon.....
"I'm coming home, I've done my time"
A celebratory record. And did anyone ask him why he had been inside for. And JLC, wasn't even put in prison so let him get on with his life.”
by Stephen_L
Monday, December 17 2012, 5:11PM
“"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
On the other hand, wouldn't it be crueller to let him take part?”
by Bedgreens
Monday, December 17 2012, 4:18PM
“appearing in that croc of s*** is punishment enough”
by Jab_the_cab
Monday, December 17 2012, 3:36PM
“You do realise that these days you're never more than six feet away from someone who has appeared on reality TV?”
by ANDYJRM
Monday, December 17 2012, 3:26PM
“@deep-heat
While I don't for one second think domestic abuse is a trivial matter, the courts have acted on the case and handed out their sentence.
It is not for the family to try and destroy his career out of what is nothing more than malice. This is nothing more than an attempt by the family to set up a kangaroo court.”
by Supersnakes
Monday, December 17 2012, 2:35PM
“Does anyone actually care?”
by Richard34
Monday, December 17 2012, 1:02PM
“I watched him staring in Rock of Ages at Shaftesbury Theatre earlier this year and he was fantastic and surprised a lot of people with his talent and voice.
Friends who work at the Shaftesbury Theatre said he's great to work with.
Do we really know both sides of the argument here?”
by JamesInBris
Monday, December 17 2012, 12:52PM
“*Insert sarcasm here* Let's ban anyone who has ever committed a crime from appearing on TV, radio, posters, magazines etc!”
by deep-heat
Monday, December 17 2012, 12:41PM
“Pretty shocking responses so far. A few questions:
Do you think that domestic abuse is a bad thing?
Do you think that the perpetrators of abuse should be bought to justice?
Do you think that they should be bought to justice even if they're famous?
Do you think that it is difficult for anyone to pluck up the courage to report domestic abuse to the Police?
I think that most right-minded people would answer yes to all of the above. I agree with the sentiment that he has been tried, convicted and will serve his sentence but the victim - in this case the victim's family - are doing no more than exercising their rights.
I also agree that she didn't come out of the trial covered in glory herself, but think that is missing the point somewhat. Some double standards seem to be operating here: she is perceived as trying to further her own publicity (there is an argument that more publicity for victims of abuse would be no bad thing) but, bearing in mind this would be JLC's first public outing (to my knowledge anyway) since the trial, would he not be doing much the same thing.
Most people who are convicted of a crime feel the impact of their conviction for a while after the sentence itself has expired. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as it doesn't get in the way of proper rehabilitation.”