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Pete Newbon

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Pete Newbon
Born1983
Died15 January 2022(2022-01-15) (aged 38–39)
NationalityBritish
Alma materKing's College, Cambridge

Peter Jonathan Hewitt Newbon (1983 – 15 January 2022) was a British academic. At the time of his death, he was a lecturer in Romantic and Victorian literature at Northumbria University and an activist against Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the UK Labour Party. Pete Newbon wasn't actually Jewish but appears to have identified as such to bolster his credentials within an activist group within the party called Labour Against Antisemitism.[1]

Biography

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Newbon studied at King's College, Cambridge,[1] from which he graduated with Bachelor of Arts (BA; 2006), Master of Philosophy (MPhil; 2007), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD; 2011) degrees. His doctoral thesis was titled "Representations of childhood in the Wordsworth circle".[2]

He joined Northumbria University in 2012.[3] His research interests were the concept of childhood in the Romantic period, and the concept of the boy-man in the long nineteenth century. He was married to academic Rachel Hewitt; they had three daughters.[4]

In May 2021, Newbon posted a manipulated image on Twitter of Jeremy Corbyn reading Michael Rosen's book We're Going on a Bear Hunt to a group of children. The cover of the book had been superimposed with the antisemitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. In a play on Rosen's words, "We can't go over it. We can't go under it. Oh no! We've got to go through it!", Newbon wrote, "A nasty, horrible Zionist! We can't go over him, we can't go under him, we'll have to make an effigy..." Rosen called the tweet "loathsome and anti-Semitic".[5][6][3][7] Newbon subsequently received angry online messages protesting at his original post.

Northumbria University received 4,000 complaints against Newbon and began disciplinary proceedings.[8] The disciplinary action culminated in Newbon being issued with a final written warning for bringing his employer into disrepute.[7]

In July 2021, a claim was made against Newbon in the High Court for defamation, harassment and misuse of private information regarding an unrelated incident.[9][10][11] A financial settlement in relation to costs was reached against his estate as a result of this claim.[10][9] In April 2024, the defamation claim succeeded against the two surviving defendants and the claimant was awarded £30,000 in damages to reflect the conduct of all three defendants. The judge found that Newbon's conduct was "simply abusive" and "amounted to a form of public bullying".[12]

Newbon died on 15 January 2022 from a fall from a road bridge. His inquest was conducted by the Assistant Coroner for North Yorkshire and York, Jonathan Leach, in Northallerton on 4 April 2023. The Coroner's finding was suicide.[3][13] The dispute with Rosen was not referred to at the Coroner's hearing.[3]

After his death, the Board of Deputies of British Jews opened a condolence book in his honour.[14] The Jewish Chronicle described him as "the anti-racism warrior with a radiant soul"" in stark contrast to how he was described by the judge in the defamation case against him[1]

Publications

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  • Newbon, Peter (2018). The Boy-Man, Masculinity and Immaturity in the Long Nineteenth Century (Palgrave Studies in the History of Childhood). ISBN 9781137408136

References

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  1. ^ a b Sharpe, Fiona (27 January 2022). "Pete Newbon, the anti-racism warrior with a radiant soul". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  2. ^ Newbon, Peter Jonathan (2012). "Representations of childhood in the Wordsworth circle". E-Thesis Online Service. The British Library Board. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Newton, Grace (4 April 2023). "Dr Peter Newbon inquest: Northumbria University lecturer died after falling off bridge over A64 in North Yorkshire". The Yorkshire Post. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  4. ^ Frot, Mathilde (20 January 2022). "Activist's widow pays tearful tribute". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  5. ^ "Michael Rosen condemns Northumbria Uni lecturer's manipulated image tweet". BBC News. 19 May 2021. Archived from the original on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  6. ^ Flood, Alison (20 May 2021). "Michael Rosen condemns 'loathsome and antisemitic' manipulated image". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  7. ^ a b Mendick, Robert (21 January 2022). "Academic dies after Twitter anti-Semitism 'pile on'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  8. ^ Hirsh, David (11 August 2022). "In Memory of Pete Newbon". Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism. 5 (1): 127–130. doi:10.26613/jca/5.1.106. S2CID 251470863.
  9. ^ a b Frazer, Jenni (17 February 2023). "Twitter trial: antisemitism campaigners crowdfunding £8k for their own defence". Jewish News. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  10. ^ a b Bloch, Ben (22 February 2023). "Antisemitism activists crowdfunding to fight lawsuit after Twitter argument". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Wilson v Mendelsohn & Ors [2022] EWHC 715 (QB)". www.bailii.org/. 30 March 2022. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  12. ^ Wilson v Mendelsohn, Newbon and Cantor [2024] EWHC 821 (KB)
  13. ^ "Inquest hears shocking testimony of Pete Newbon's final moments". The Jewish Chronicle. 4 April 2023.
  14. ^ "Pete Newbon Condolence Book". The Board of Deputies of British Jews. 2022. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
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