In Praise of “Hebo”

In Praise of “Hebo”

A Letter to the Editor, in a deeply satirical vein, from NUJ journalist and NYE crime correspondent TIM HICKS, who discerns, at least as well as the next man, where ‘the Michael’ can be justly and mercilessly extracted.

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Sir,

In Praise of “Hebo”

I write in response to your recent article concerning the way Whitby Town Councillor John Nock has obtained national publicity on the BBC (no less) with his compassionate views on homeless people who are forced to sleep rough.

Long term readers of the NYE will recall that in May 2019 I wrote to the then Leader of the former Scarborough Borough Council (SBC), Councillor Steve Siddons, congratulating him on his appointment as Leader of SBC.

I also took the opportunity of saying how much everyone at the NYE lamented the fact that Councillor John Nock had lost his seat.

This was a cause of great sadness to everyone at the NYE, because Councillor Nock had made such an outstanding contribution to the NYE with a his defence of child molester and rapist Councillor Peter Jaconelli, on the basis that [a] Jaconelli was only a hebephile, not a paedophile (hence he is known as “Hebo” in the NYE newsroom), and [b] Jaconelli was generously redistributing wealth by giving poor kids money for giving him a w*nk.

This generated many excellent articles that were warmly received by our readership.

The NYE news team used to hoot with laughter whenever we published an article or photoon on him and we were very sorry to see him go. Such is the regard in which we held him – as a valuable source of articles – that I took the time and trouble to write to Councillor Siddons about “Hebo” in the warmest terms as follows:

“I hope you will do everything you can to ensure he [“Hebo”] does not give up on politics and comes back onto the Council”.

Happily, it is clear that we underestimated dear old “Hebo”. Such is the measure of this man, his indomitable spirit and his loyalty to the NYE, that he quickly returned to politics as a Whitby Town Councillor and is still providing us with great articles, as well as promoting Whitby Town politics at a national level.

In his article, Nigel Ward states that “Hebo” is reputedly intending to stand as a Conservative Councillor for the North Yorkshire Council. I can only hope that this so and I truly wish him well for his candidacy, so that he continues to provide the NYE with material for many more articles – as he has done throughout his political career.

Everyone at the NYE wishes “Hebo” the best of luck for the North Yorkshire Council elections.

Sincerely,

Tim Hicks