Baby P Solicitor’S Libel Threat Bins PETA’S Steven Barker Billboard

For Immediate Release:
20 October 2009

Contact:
Sam Glover 020 7357 9229, ext 229; [email protected]

Haringey – A billboard showing Steven Barker’s face was taken down from its hoarding following a communiqué from Leslie Franks Solicitors warning PETA that the description of its client was libellous and actionable. PETA has redesigned the billboard to make the case that the convicted child abusers’ violent acts send a clear warning to anyone who might overlook animal abuse. The new billboard will go up this week and will read, “Steven Barker: Animal Abuser, Baby Abuser, Rapist. People Who Are Violent Towards Animals Rarely Stop There. Report Cruelty to Animals Immediately”. Barker was not convicted of murder but of “causing or allowing” the death of Baby P. The court found that Baby P suffered many months of torture and abuse, which resulted in 50 separate injuries, including a fractured spine.

The new billboard will be located near Arc Car Wash down Broad Lane (next to Esin Court) in Haringey. Click here to view the new billboard.

As a child, Barker enjoyed torturing guinea pigs and other animals, and he would skin frogs before breaking their legs. Earlier this year, Barker was found guilty of raping a 2-year-old girl.

“Whatever the courts call Barker, the fact remains that violence towards animals is evil in and of itself, and if uncorrected and unchallenged, it may be a warning that the perpetrator won’t stop there”, says PETA’s Poorva Joshipura. “Abusers are generally cowards who seek out the most vulnerable victims, including children, animals and elderly people.”

Child-killers Mary Bell, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables as well as serial murderers Ian Huntley, Thomas Hamilton (Dunblane massacre), Fred West, Denis Nilsen, Ian Brady and Jeffrey Dahmer all started out by deliberately harming animals.

The e-mail from Leslie Franks Solicitors to PETA is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.