# Attack on Chris Newman



## Chris Newman

On Friday 18th of May a posting was made on RFUK alleging that I had committed a number of criminal/unlawful activities, although the mods kindly banned the author and removed the postings. The author has also sent the same information to numerous organisations, trade associations, herpetological societies etc. I have chosen to republish this letter in its entirety and added my own comments in blue text.

Ordinarily I would not dignify such nonsense with a response as individuals who send this kind of missive do tend to crave publicity, but I have grave concerns over the mental health of the author and concerned he/she poses a significant threat not only to myself but to other members of the public and indeed themselves. 

Chris Newman




Dear Sir/Madam

Re: Complaint against your consultant

I am writing to you because Chris Newman claims to be a consultant of yours and I have some information that I believe should therefore be of importance to you.

My daughter a while ago obtained two bearded dragons from Mr Newman (currently trading from Southampton, previously trading from Headington, Ox). He also tried hard to sell her a possum or something similar. One lizard quickly got sick and the other within a day after that. The vet said they died from sand they'd eaten before we had them.

I have never ‘traded’ from my home in Southampton, where I have lived for the past twelve years. The suggestion that I sold two bearded dragons is pure fabrication. I do keep and breed Australian brush tailed possums, although I have never sold any but have given several away to institutions and private keepers. 


I had a bad feeling about this guy when I saw him and the way he was keeping and selling animals from his house. I felt sorry for them all. This Chris Newman tried hard to say he was an 'expert' but the vet says he's not an expert at all and has a very bad background and advised me not to have any dealings with him. So I checked around and it seems the vet is completely right. A PI friend of mine found out a few things about Mr Newman (all verifiable) and here they are:


A very interesting and potentially very illuminating comment - trading from home & animals kept in appalling conditions! I do not, nor have I ‘traded’ from my home, but a well-known alleged ‘expert’ did trade from his home and kept animals in appalling conditions back in the 1970’s. Perhaps this has led to some identity confusion!

In the 1970s/80s he was known to be illegally catching and selling British Wildlife (mostly adders, grass snakes and toads) and selling them from his father's place in High Wycombe.

I did not live in High Wycombe during the 1970s/80s, I lived near Beaconsfield, neither did I catch and sell ‘British Wildlife’ legally or otherwise, although it was not illegal to sell adders & grass snakes until 1981. In the mid 1980’s I was collaborating with Dr Bernard Whaler from University of London on venom research on _Vipera berus_, although rather than keeping them in captivity we extracted venom in the field. 

In the 1980s the RSPCA was on his case fro cruelty to snakes.

News to me! [Get yourself a spellchecker]. 


In 1989 he was arrested at Harwich docks with several others trying to smuggle snakes and illegal porn into the UK and they were all siezed. An ex-friend of Mr Newman's who was also arrested said he used a red van to smuggle wildlife into the country.

I have never been arrested at Harwich docks, or indeed any docks, airports or similar, neither have I ever been charged with smuggling wildlife, porn or anything else, although in or around 1989 I did have a red van!

In the 1990s he ran a magazine called 'Reptiles/Reptilian' and he shafted a load of people out of their money.


The Reptilian magazine ran from 1991 until 2001.

A few years ago he bought his neighbour's house on the spoils of illegal wildife trading.


I have not brought my neighbour’s house. 

I had figured that Chris Newman was just a small time animal trader but now I know what he really is - he is a crooked guy of the worst sort - and worse still I discovered he posing as consultant to your organisation and many others.


The author of this poison pen letter is clearly a very unbalanced individual who has little else to do with his/her time other then to fabricate libellous and defamatory material. The fact that some of the fabrications do have a vague basis in truth (such as my former ownership of a red van and my breeding possums) lead me to believe this individual has an unhealthy obsession and could be a misguided stalker or someone with very grave mental issues. I would urge anyone else who has been the victim of this sort of campaign to come forward as this person may have prior form. Clearly he/she needs to be identified quickly as their issues seem to be spiralling out of control. The naïve and poorly-developed writing style do give some clues as to the identity of the author and I would surmise that others may also recognise this from past correspondence with the individual concerned. 

Yours

Bill Giles


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## connor 1213

the person that wrote that must of had a brilliant imagination :lol2:

smuggling illegal porn :lol2:


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## Tarron

He could have said smuggling medicine made from tiger bones, or endangered tortoise shells, but no illegal porn!

Have you raised this libelous text with any legal authority? I assume that these messages were sent by email, in which case they should be fairly easy to track down.
If of wasnt so pathetic, it would be laughable.

I hope this, and author current events, have not shaken you too much Chris.

All them best

Tarron


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## colinm

What I found interesting was that this letter was sent the day before the A.S.A. judgement on Lush and the A.P.A.It seems a bit more than a coincidence to me.


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## eco_tonto

Porn..... thats our Chris alright :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## Moshpitviper

Was their address on the letter? I am more than happy to pop round and ruin their lives for a pair of possums as payment : victory:


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## BigHomer

Some people have way too much time on their hands and overly active imaginations. They live fantasy lives and part of that is creating drama for others. What they don't understand is that the people they target are real, unlike their own fantasy persona! 
I do hope that you find out who this is.


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## Chris Newman

Tarron said:


> He could have said smuggling medicine made from tiger bones, or endangered tortoise shells, but no illegal porn!
> 
> Have you raised this libelous text with any legal authority? I assume that these messages were sent by email, in which case they should be fairly easy to track down.
> If of wasnt so pathetic, it would be laughable.
> 
> I hope this, and author current events, have not shaken you too much Chris.
> 
> All them best
> 
> Tarron


This matter has been referred to the appropriate authorities. Whilst it is unpleasant and quite frankly something I could well do without, if those concerned think it will distract me they are even more deluded that I thought as this only strengthens my resolve to get on with what has to be done – that I can assure you.

I hope we don’t go back to where we were a few years back that would be very tiresome, it’s really irritating when you have spent half the day cleaning the car and then some bugger sets fire to it!


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## Kuja

Chris Newman said:


> On Friday 18th of May a posting
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In 1989 he was arrested at Harwich docks with several others trying to smuggle snakes and illegal porn into the UK and they were all siezed. An ex-friend of Mr Newman's who was also arrested said he used a red van to smuggle wildlife into the country.
> 
> I have never been arrested at Harwich docks, or indeed any docks, airports or similar, neither have I ever been charged with smuggling wildlife, porn or anything else, although in or around 1989 I did have a red van!


That was the best bit lmao, the guy or girl who wrote it really does "think out side the box". Crazy, hopefully this wont have any negative impact, although to be honest i can't see this one catching on...


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## Graham

I thought the bit about the van was interesting when this was posted last week, a rather minor point you'd have thought, yet the author felt the need to mention it and be very specific about the colour of the van. 

Around that time I too owned a red van, maybe it was me they're getting confused with, or perhaps one of the thousands of postal workers who drove them on a daily basis?

The other thing that concerned me about this was the fact that three RFUK members "liked" his original post, these were all established members, not just a bunch of "Bill's" cronies who had signed up specifically to do so. I won't name any names but they know who they are, I would be interested to hear what it was they liked about the post?


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## Tarron

Graham said:


> I thought the bit about the van was interesting when this was posted last week, a rather minor point you'd have thought, yet the author felt the need to mention it and be very specific about the colour of the van.
> 
> Around that time I too owned a red van, *maybe it was me they're getting confused with*, or perhaps one of the thousands of postal workers who drove them on a daily basis?
> 
> The other thing that concerned me about this was the fact that three RFUK members "liked" his original post, these were all established members, not just a bunch of "Bill's" cronies who had signed up specifically to do so. I won't name any names but they know who they are, *I would be interested to hear what it was they liked about the post*?


Do you regularly smuggle porn?:lol2:

I too would be interested to know that.

Rest assured Chris, the rest of us have faith in your innocence. Regarding the antis attacking shows such as BRAS, is anyone making other show aware of these malicious people, to forewarn them to ignore all comments made. Obviously the other threats that happened would be more serious, but if places such as Doncaster were to get an email regarding zoonoses etc, they could be prepared to ignore the email rather than have a knee jerk reaction?

I love the analogy of the burnt out car, brilliant. I was not around in those days, but despite ignoring threats and silly name calling, there is only so much a person can take before it gets to them. Hopefully, all of our guys and girls are thick skinned enough to weather the storm.


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## Geomyda

Graham said:


> I thought the bit about the van was interesting when this was posted last week, a rather minor point you'd have thought, yet the author felt the need to mention it and be very specific about the colour of the van.
> 
> Around that time I too owned a red van, maybe it was me they're getting confused with, or perhaps one of the thousands of postal workers who drove them on a daily basis?
> 
> The other thing that concerned me about this was the fact that three RFUK members "liked" his original post, these were all established members, not just a bunch of "Bill's" cronies who had signed up specifically to do so. I won't name any names but they know who they are, I would be interested to hear what it was they liked about the post?


Perhaps, they like the author spend too much time watching television?
The reference to a Red Van sounds a bit like Postman Pat, he always travelled with Jess the Cat, and was frequently delivering parcels to Mrs Goggins!:whistling2:


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## Graham

> Do you regularly smuggle porn?


Err, depends what you mean by regularly!


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## ian14

So I checked around and it seems the vet is completely right. A PI friend of mine found out a few things about Mr Newman (all verifiable) and here they are:

If I recall correctly, the person who started the thread was asked to provide some proof of what he was saying in terms of this "verifiable" information.
With the vast amount of information which can be found on the internet, courtesy of Google and the like, typing "Chris Newman" into the search box should have brought up all sorts of information to verify what was being alledged. I tried it, and it will, I am sure, come as no surprise to find that nothing of the sort was there.


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## Pete Q

Chris Newman said:


> This matter has been referred to the appropriate authorities. Whilst it is unpleasant and quite frankly something I could well do without, if those concerned think it will distract me they are even more deluded that I thought as this only strengthens my resolve to get on with what has to be done – that I can assure you.
> 
> I hope we don’t go back to where we were a few years back that would be very tiresome, it’s really irritating when you have spent half the day cleaning the car and then some bugger sets fire to it!


There must be a way of finding the person who did that ? 

Likely to be some sort of animal rights extremist scientist.


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## Pete Q

Graham said:


> I thought the bit about the van was interesting when this was posted last week, a rather minor point you'd have thought, yet the author felt the need to mention it and be very specific about the colour of the van.
> 
> Around that time I too owned a red van, maybe it was me they're getting confused with, or perhaps one of the thousands of postal workers who drove them on a daily basis?
> 
> The other thing that concerned me about this was the fact that three RFUK members "liked" his original post, these were all established members, not just a bunch of "Bill's" cronies who had signed up specifically to do so. I won't name any names but they know who they are, I would be interested to hear what it was they liked about the post?


Yeah I saw that, I can only think they don't know Chris and they thought someone was naming and shameing for real ? or am I just being to kind.


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## fishboy

Pete Q said:


> Yeah I saw that, I can only think they don't know Chris and they thought someone was naming and shameing for real ? or am I just being to kind.



Or they liked it because they thought it was hilarious? :lol2:


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## Pete Q

fishboy said:


> Or they liked it because they thought it was hilarious? :lol2:


Yes, but they would have to abit sick in the head to.


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## bladeblaster

the letter is bordering on hilarious, if it wasn't for the fact that it is real, and some morons will actually take it at face value, it would be quite funny.


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## snakewhisperer

Well it had to happen, Michael Fish achieved everlasting noteriety in 1987, John Kettley had a pop song written about him, poor old Bill Giles has had to resort to mischief making to satisfy his ego...................


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## fatbloke

That's messed up mate let's hope sum one catches him soon and locks him/her away


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## jojobeans123

What a penis! lol!

I work for a Financial Adviser firm and this kind of thing is (kinda) common place in the industry. For example; someone will come in looking for financial advice, get a recommendation, go through the process of investing some money with an institution, then they try to take the adviser who made the recomendation to the cleaners, purely to try and get some compensation on the basis of ''mis-selling''. I have seen some very horrible people trying to do this to the most honest of people and it's a bloody shame!!

...It takes a lot of weirdos to make a world....


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## storm

it does seem too much of a coincidence on the timing of this as others have said. the author has some serious underlying issues and far too much time on their hands. 

i hope that the person responsible is located, and appropriate action taken.

x


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## Dave Balls

Chris Newman said:


> In the 1990s he ran a magazine called 'Reptiles/Reptilian' and he shafted a load of people out of their money.
> 
> 
> The Reptilian magazine ran from 1991 until 2001.


Is there a reason why you chose to not respond to this claim?


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## Wolflore

Dave Balls said:


> Is there a reason why you chose to not respond to this claim?


Beat me to it!

Chris, you mentioned the magazine but not the shafting people! Could be misconstrued as an admission of guilt


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## Tarron

Wolflore said:


> Beat me to it!
> 
> Chris, you mentioned the magazine but not the shafting people! Could be misconstrued as an admission of guilt


When I read that part, I read as if the scumbags implied the mag was a short lived venture to con money, and chris's reply showed that the mag ran for a decade, so was reputable and well followed, if that makes sense?
I may be wrong, but that's how I took it.


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## Wolflore

Tarron said:


> When I read that part, I read as if the scumbags implied the mag was a short lived venture to con money, and chris's reply showed that the mag ran for a decade, so was reputable and well followed, if that makes sense?
> I may be wrong, but that's how I took it.


Yeah, got that too, but there's nothing like a bit of banter on a Friday


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## Tarron

Sorry, very long working week coupled with a very naughty 3 year old. Im in 'no time for joking' mood today. : victory:


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## vetdebbie

Slightly off topic bt am I the only one in a time warp here? The very first sentence in Chris's post said "On Friday the 18th May" which mde perfect sense to me reading it on Saturday 19th - until I realised the post was made on the 15th?

On topic - that sucks and I hope that this person can be identified and prosecuted.


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## ratboy

Chris Newman said:


> In 1989 he was arrested at Harwich docks with several others trying to smuggle illegal porn into the UK


Got any left Chris ?


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## bexnd

jojobeans123 said:


> What a penis! lol!
> 
> I work for a Financial Adviser firm and this kind of thing is (kinda) common place in the industry. For example; someone will come in looking for financial advice, get a recommendation, go through the process of investing some money with an institution, then they try to take the adviser who made the recomendation to the cleaners, purely to try and get some compensation on the basis of ''mis-selling''. I have seen some very horrible people trying to do this to the most honest of people and it's a bloody shame!!
> 
> ...It takes a lot of weirdos to make a world....


 
not same circumstances but i sold a horse over a yr ago now. he was bit nervy but generally good alrounder and very showy. when i sold him i was very honest told them he was a little nervous couldnt clip him without sedation and some days he doesnt jump as well as others but his confidence was picking up and aslong as they didnt over face him he should make a good jumper. so off he went then 6-7 months down the line her and her cousin where on my case saying ''what have you done to him you must have had a massive accident jumping him because he wont jump we cant even get him near a jump and we cant get clippers near him'' bla bla bla. then next message i get is ''he was fine when i first got him jumped every thing what have you done to him what happened??'' 
they obviously new they couldnt get anywhere and gave up after sending a few bitchy messages.
i think some people do it to feel inpowered kinda like i know best. propably jelous too


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## powerpuffruth

What the hell is "Illeagal Porn" anyway? :whistling2:


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## Biggys

powerpuffruth said:


> What the hell is "Illeagal Porn" anyway? :whistling2:


Stuff consisting of unhealthy Eagals I suppose :lol2:


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## Dave Balls

Wolflore said:


> Chris, you mentioned the magazine but not the shafting people! Could be misconstrued as an admission of guilt


Thats what i thought tbh, seems odd to post a whole page of allegations and refute them all but one. 

Hopefully Chris will be along soon to clear it up.


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## Pete Q

Dave Balls said:


> Thats what i thought tbh, seems odd to post a whole page of allegations and refute them all but one.
> 
> Hopefully Chris will be along soon to clear it up.


It's history, only care about the future.:bash:


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## Wolflore

You could say that about the whole thread Pete!


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## Salazare Slytherin

hahahahaahaha:flrt:


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## Dave Balls

Pete Q said:


> It's history, only care about the future.:bash:


Im still fairly new to this hobby, Chris Newman is presented as the person who represents our hobby at a political level, i dont know anything about Chris apart from the threads he starts( which tbh i find a little pessimistic), Then i read allegations about him "shafting" people out of money. 

Posting a comment like that and choosing not to explain it looks dodgy, people are just going to make their own minds up. I think if you're putting yourself forward as a political representative, its probably a good idea to get all your dirty washing out in public, or it will come back to bite you in the arse.


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## Drayvan

Kind of miffed i missed the original post....i could of done with a good giggle to be honest! Never made a secret that we two don't really get along so im sure i would of appreciated the humor in it :lol2: However, the fact that this individual seems to actually be serious in these claims is quite concerning...they clearly have too much time on their hands, if your going to be vocal about your enemy at least know what your talking about, and hell....don't make up tall stories! What with the current events im sure this is a twist you could of done without Chris so all the best putting this moron in their place :2thumb:

Hope you kept the red van, having my hobby fronted by a porn smuggling postman pat is pretty funny :lol2:


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