I am genuinely curious - where do others on the thread think this will all end? I can’t call it at all, I think even from prison he would be screaming persecution.
1 - he’ll do a Reggie Perrin/Riche Manic type disappearance to make people think he commuted suicide…then Babs will emigrate to Spain in her grief, he will be in the cellar and blow his cover within a week because he isn’t getting enough interaction/attention.
or
2 - he’ll make a suicide ‘attempt’ that isn’t a real attempt but a glorified piece of theatre…and go into a mental institute to ‘recover’. Evading consequences until the pressure is off.
or
3 - if he’s a true narcissist/borderline personality…he will actually WANT this to end up in the criminal court, he will enjoy it and possibly even represent himself (claiming poverty or that he doesn’t want to use funds on legal fees that he could instead donate to the poor). He will love the attention no matter if it is bad, he will just want the publicity of it all.
Or
4 - he will ‘develop’ a problem such a drink or drug addiction which he will use an excuse for his behaviour.
or, if he’s really wanting to push back against being questioned…
5 - he will claim he has terminal cancer and pose for photos using other people’s medical equipment or medications or outside a hospital…to make it ‘authentic’.
Something James is clearly incapable of is thinking through the consequences of his actions. Whatever ‘get out jail free card’ he decides to pull…it won’t succeed. He doesn’t have the brain power to get away with a long haul scam.
The sad thing for Jimmy is that if he had been able to rein himself in…he could have taken £50k a year out of the CIC fraudulently and got away with it. All he had to do was overcharge the CIC for hours works and charge some extra parts to them for jobs related to paid work…it would be an easy scam if careful. His mistakes have been major, telling lies he can’t keep track of on social media and posting the same pictures with different stories and of people who haven’t consented was bound to catch up with him eventually…as was buying the house and expensive non-work vehicles. He should have been careful with the money, not spent it obvious ways etc, bided his time, retire early and wind up the business, then move out of Burnley where he can be anonymous and enjoy the cash. This ‘local hero’ nonsense is his downfall.
One thing I really don’t understand in all this…why was Hugh Grant so easily duped? He runs a campaign against phone hacking etc, he surely can’t be that thick. He’s also not known (to my awareness) for donating to hundreds of different small charities. Why would he as someone who presumably isn’t based in Burnley, have been so enthralled by the saving of the old dears from the cold that he invested so publicly in Jimmy? By the time Hugh made the second donation…the problems were already evident. Hugh is now part of the problem…his standing up to the phone hacking has made him a trusted figure of honesty/integrity to some people…that in turn means that attaching his name to a charity/CIC means that some of the public donations could have come directly as a result of people being led by him. It’s all very strange…why didn’t Hugh take an interest in a local food bank, or theatre groups, or stuff related to children (he has 5 who are fairly young). I’m not aware he has any links to Burnley or any experience in issues such as heating poverty or eldercare, or indeed safeguarding. Hugh definitely didn’t ask for an enhanced DBS check to ensure that funding Jimmy to go into homes for free repairs was safe for vulnerable people because Jimmy hasn’t got one.
’s twitter on his Facebook page and described the posts as ‘torture’. It includes a picture of him photoshopped as Jesus and I just can’t with this fucking lunatic today.
