Has British Speedway now reached the bottom?

[keepturningleft]

 

It is clear from many postings over the years here on the forum and on Facebook pages that Kenny Carter enjoys hero worship status amongst many.

Thank goodness I am not the only person who feels deeply uncomfortable by all this.

 

According to Tony Mac’s excellent book, a close friend of Pam’s claimed that Carter regularly hit Pam and prevented her from going out and leading a normal life.

So now it turns out our hero is a wife beater, a man who inflicted mental anguish on his wife and then finally a murderer.

 

If Carter’s actions on that fateful night had come about after some blazing argument resulting in a red mist moment, it may have made this whole wretched business 1% more bearable.

However we know that Carter travelled to the Huddersfield area the day before the shooting to seek out the murder weapon, eventually sourcing one on the day of the murder so he had plenty of time to consider his actions.

The decision he had made, to murder his wife and devastate the lives of two young children, clearly identifies this as a premeditated and truly heinous crime.

 

Some claim Carter had become unhinged over the years and that his actions were fuelled by his, admittedly terrible, upbringing.

Some are also now tagging a mental illness spin (with no proof), on the story but listening to Carter’s many inarticulate, and cringeworthy ranting interviews on World of Sport over the years he comes across as a little more than a hot headed child and frankly, not very bright.

Many people are raised in deplorable and shocking circumstances but don’t go on to murder.

If you take the position that it’s possible to separate Carter’s speedway career from his personal life, then you have to ask yourself this question: Is Kenny Carter’s speedway career more important than Pamela Carter’s life?

It’s interesting to speculate about what might have happened had Carter not killed himself that night.

Presumably he would have spent the rest of the 80’s, all the 90’s and some of the early century in prison.

Would he have been given a heroes welcome home on the day of his release?

As a convicted murderer, I doubt that he could have returned to speedway in any capacity and especially now given the extremely high profile nature of the Me Too movement and the game changing outrage over the murder of Sarah Everard.

Kenny Carter would today almost certainly be banished to complete obscurity, a sad old man.

Would his fans still be lauding him as a hero and legend in these circumstances?

 

But of course by killing himself Carter conveniently avoided all this, thus bestowing upon himself the status of moral coward of the very highest (lowest) order.

 

The achievements of people such as Carter, Phil Spector, Oscar Pistorius and many others in their respective fields, will aways be there on record. Nothing can take that away from them, but what we should do is to stop eulogising them.

Their crimes have cancelled their status as legends or heroes.

RIP Pam

 

[castrolargh]

On 3/28/2021 at 5:14 PM, Wee Eck said:

Regardless of his talents on a speedway bike, for Speedway GB’s press office to eulogise a man who murdered his wife, then orphaned his children by killing himself is, in my opinion, the height of bad taste. And what sort of “kind wishes” are they expressing?

I said similar on a facebook group and got accused of dragging dirt up , or such like 

[Byker Biker]

Clear views and opinions have been posted on this thread but perhaps now is the time to let this debate fizzle out.

Here's why,

Horrendous crimes leave a legacy for life with those closely linked or related to the victims and perpetrators, the pain and anguish never goes away but does find a tolerable level. Periodically physical and emotional flares occur naturally to exacerbate that pain and anguish (Birthdays, Christmas anniversaries of the event) however the whole episode is relived for months when the event is brought back into the public eye. In the case of a convicted perpetrator every time there is a parole review and talk of release the event hits the headlines and takes everyone back to the beginning again destroying any recovery and progress that has been made. Many Police Officers believe that whilst justice has not been seen to be done a perpetrator taking their own life is an easier outcome for those left behind to live with than a lifetime of constant reminders in the media.

Many of Kenny and Pam's respective family relations are still actively involved with or supporting motorcycle events including Speedway and do read this forum so out of respect for them it might just be time to put this thread to bed.

[foamfence]

2 hours ago, keepturningleft said:

 

It is clear from many postings over the years here on the forum and on Facebook pages that Kenny Carter enjoys hero worship status amongst many.

Thank goodness I am not the only person who feels deeply uncomfortable by all this.

 

According to Tony Mac’s excellent book, a close friend of Pam’s claimed that Carter regularly hit Pam and prevented her from going out and leading a normal life.

So now it turns out our hero is a wife beater, a man who inflicted mental anguish on his wife and then finally a murderer.

 

If Carter’s actions on that fateful night had come about after some blazing argument resulting in a red mist moment, it may have made this whole wretched business 1% more bearable.

However we know that Carter travelled to the Huddersfield area the day before the shooting to seek out the murder weapon, eventually sourcing one on the day of the murder so he had plenty of time to consider his actions.

The decision he had made, to murder his wife and devastate the lives of two young children, clearly identifies this as a premeditated and truly heinous crime.

 

Some claim Carter had become unhinged over the years and that his actions were fuelled by his, admittedly terrible, upbringing.

Some are also now tagging a mental illness spin (with no proof), on the story but listening to Carter’s many inarticulate, and cringeworthy ranting interviews on World of Sport over the years he comes across as a little more than a hot headed child and frankly, not very bright.

Many people are raised in deplorable and shocking circumstances but don’t go on to murder.

If you take the position that it’s possible to separate Carter’s speedway career from his personal life, then you have to ask yourself this question: Is Kenny Carter’s speedway career more important than Pamela Carter’s life?

It’s interesting to speculate about what might have happened had Carter not killed himself that night.

Presumably he would have spent the rest of the 80’s, all the 90’s and some of the early century in prison.

Would he have been given a heroes welcome home on the day of his release?

As a convicted murderer, I doubt that he could have returned to speedway in any capacity and especially now given the extremely high profile nature of the Me Too movement and the game changing outrage over the murder of Sarah Everard.

Kenny Carter would today almost certainly be banished to complete obscurity, a sad old man.

Would his fans still be lauding him as a hero and legend in these circumstances?

 

But of course by killing himself Carter conveniently avoided all this, thus bestowing upon himself the status of moral coward of the very highest (lowest) order.

 

The achievements of people such as Carter, Phil Spector, Oscar Pistorius and many others in their respective fields, will aways be there on record. Nothing can take that away from them, but what we should do is to stop eulogising them.

Their crimes have cancelled their status as legends or heroes.

RIP Pam

 

He's still a speedway hero, whatever he did and why he did it, he was still magic on a bike, while I accept your views, what happened was tragic, why it happened and all the circumstances, we'll never know. Personally I also liked Garrity as well, he was a great entertainer and despite his many shortcomings, I liked Ward, I've been involved since the early 50s and I still think Darcy was one of the best two or three riders I ever saw. This is a speedway forum and great moments will always be remembered, no matter who created them.

[MattB]

7 hours ago, castrolargh said:

I said similar on a facebook group and got accused of dragging dirt up , or such like 

Yes.  I said I was uncomfortable with it on another and got told to grow up

[waytogo28]

On 3/29/2021 at 8:03 AM, Jonny the spud said:

You do sometimes wonder who’s in charge of

I wonder quite often if anyone with compassion  or concern for what is happening to the sport, is "in charge".....

[HackneyHawk]

Not only was the tweet/FB post very insensitive to Kenny Carter's wife's family but it damages Speedway's reputation and I think gives insight into why the sport is in such a bad way:  Insular, amateurish, hostile to change and resistant to modern culture/values.

I remember taking some friends to the open night of the London Lions because I thought they might like Speedway.  There was nowhere to stand and so we stood on the grass banking that Hackney fans had stood on for years.  The police were called to have us removed from the stadium.  We asked for a refund at the office.  The office staff called Colin Pratt over who told us to f*ck off.  My friends didn't attend speedway again.  Another occasion on which Speedway has embarrassed me. 

The post from Speedway GB was shocking and hopefully none of the family saw it

[Ray Stadia]

3 hours ago, HackneyHawk said:

Not only was the tweet/FB post very insensitive to Kenny Carter's wife's family but it damages Speedway's reputation and I think gives insight into why the sport is in such a bad way:  Insular, amateurish, hostile to change and resistant to modern culture/values.

I remember taking some friends to the open night of the London Lions because I thought they might like Speedway.  There was nowhere to stand and so we stood on the grass banking that Hackney fans had stood on for years.  The police were called to have us removed from the stadium.  We asked for a refund at the office.  The office staff called Colin Pratt over who told us to f*ck off.  My friends didn't attend speedway again.  Another occasion on which Speedway has embarrassed me. 

The post from Speedway GB was shocking and hopefully none of the family saw it

I think there must be more to your story, for the police to be involved. Bovver boots, rolled up Levi's 501 and Ben Sherman shirts spring to mind! 

 

[HackneyHawk]

On 4/7/2021 at 4:11 PM, Ray Stadia said:

I think there must be more to your story, for the police to be involved. Bovver boots, rolled up Levi's 501 and Ben Sherman shirts spring to mind! 

 

Ha ha!

We did refuse to dismount the grassy bank as there was no obvious good reason for insisting that we did.  We'd paid our money and the redeveloped London stadium had no outside raised terracing to stand on.  A single, rather aggressive steward threatened to call the police without telling us why we had to move, so we waited it out............unfortunately the Met arrived and we were returned to Waterden Rd! 

 

I must say i was a bit hurt by Colin Pratt's behaviour as a Hackney Hawks fan.

[TINYS]

On 3/29/2021 at 11:05 AM, falcace said:

As much as people like to retreat to the extremes, things are rarely black and white. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle.

Kenny Carter lost the plot. I think we can all agree that. What he did was horrific and unimaginable. Even in his crazed state of mind, he knew that and took his own life. Tony MacDonald's excellent book "Tragedy" gives a fine insight into what led to his mental deterioration and the traumatic childhood that preceded it. Nothing could ever excuse what he did, but there are good reasons why he wasn't of sound mind.

He was also a brilliant speedway rider. Unless you were a big follower of the sport in the early 1980s, it is difficult to understand just how much of a part he played in the scene around that time. He was genuine box office, the rider fans of every other club loved to hate. He was the go-to speedway rider in the national media, on breakfast TV, national newspapers, Question of Sport, teenage magazines. In pure speedway terms, there has been no-one like him since.

Try articulating that in a tweet.

It will always been a minefield discussing his life and legacy, ever likely to offend some. No-one would suggest there should be a statue. But that doesn't mean he should be airbrushed from history, he was too significant of a figure to be perpetually ignored.

Agree with all you have said, I have also read ''Tragedy'' and now understand more of what could have made him do what he did although i am not condoning his actions. Saw him ride many times at different tracks and he was simply brilliant.

[Pieman72]

Probably best to let it be and consign the incident to memory. It was such a tragic event god knows what he was thinking. Lets just leave it there and realise what he gave to speedway and took in such a cruel way.

Edited July 16, 2021 by Pieman72
Grammar

[Daniel Smith]

On 7/16/2021 at 9:03 PM, Pieman72 said:

Probably best to let it be and consign the incident to memory. It was such a tragic event god knows what he was thinking. Lets just leave it there and realise what he gave to speedway and took in such a cruel way.

You do realise what you've just said, yes?!? 

[Pieman72]

Please explain as I was trying to draw a line underneath it?

[Daniel Smith]

10 hours ago, Pieman72 said:

Please explain as I was trying to draw a line underneath it?

I just find it disgusting that it should be suggested that the biggest thing Kennett ever did should be ignored, forgotten about, just to wax lyrical about him because he's a Speedway rider. 

Absolutely not. He's defined his history as a murder, end of. If people want to talk about him expect the full history, not selected history. 

Like everyone whose committed very serious crime, his whole life history belongs in the bin if you're not willing to have the full conversion 

[Gambo]

I think you may need to do a name-check on your post, Dan! 

[IainB]

9 hours ago, Daniel Smith said:

I just find it disgusting that it should be suggested that the biggest thing Kennett ever did should be ignored, forgotten about, just to wax lyrical about him because he's a Speedway rider. 

Absolutely not. He's defined his history as a murder, end of. If people want to talk about him expect the full history, not selected history. 

Like everyone whose committed very serious crime, his whole life history belongs in the bin if you're not willing to have the full conversion 

It's like praising Jimmy Savile for all his charity runs

[fatface]

7 minutes ago, iainb said:

It's like praising Jimmy Savile for all his charity runs

Not really.

A solitary crime of passion cannot be equated with a systematic lifetime of calculated abuse of scores of children.

[Daniel Smith]

9 hours ago, Gambo said:

I think you may need to do a name-check on your post, Dan! 

Why? 

[M.D]

30 minutes ago, Daniel Smith said:

Why? 

Because you used the name Kennett

[Daniel Smith]

35 minutes ago, M.D said:

Because you used the name Kennett

See it now, I don't know what it is but for 30yrs now I've gotten these 2 mixed up all the time. 

Apologies for any offence regarding Carter 

Can't promise I won't get mixed up again mind, no idea why I do it with these 2. 

 

Taking myself to a corner:-