Shelagh Fogarty's epic rant on 'entitled Chris Whitty harassers' who 'wanted a selfie'
1 July 2021, 16:40
Shelagh Fogarty's epic rant on noisy neighbours and their impact
Shelagh Fogarty hits out at the "entitled" men who claimed to simply "want a selfie" when they "accosted" Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty.
Shelagh Fogarty shared her personal experience of young neighbours on her road that, she says, possess the same "attitude of entitlement" shown by the men who accosted Chris Whitty.
Lewis Hughes, 24, was filmed in the video and says he has lost his job as an estate agent since the event.
He apologised for "any upset I caused" and said that he and his friends simply "wanted a selfie" with the Chief Medical Officer.
Shelagh reflected on this defence: "I just wanted a selfie, I just wanted a selfie. Oh did you? Oh, well that's OK. Oh, that's alright. You can just manhandle anybody in that case to get your all important selfie.
"I just wanted to have some fun. I just wanted a party. I just wanted a selfie.
"Me, me, me, me, me, me, me. Annoying, annoying, annoying. But more than annoying. It's dangerous. It's dangerous because it sends a message that society in general, where we all just rub along together as much as we possibly can, isn't there anymore."
CMO Chris Whitty harassed by two men in the street
"It is there, clearly most people don't behave like this, but those that do seem to think they have an absolute free pass to behave any way they want."
Shelagh continued: "It's the 'i' generation, it's the I, I, I, it's the me, me, me. To be fair every generation has that kind of person in it, it's not this generation and young people have absolutely been brilliant, and have absolutely sacrificed a lot this year during the pandemic.
"It's that attitude of entitlement that I see that really really bothers me."
Read more: PM condemns 'despicable harassment' of Chris Whitty as police investigate incident
Shelagh Fogarty's epic rant on noisy neighbours and their impact
Mr Hughes, from Romford in Essex, told The Sun: "I absolutely apologise for any upset I caused.
"If I made him feel uncomfortable, which it does look like I did, then I am sorry to him for that.
"He is quite a timid, shy person and I think that is why he didn't say, 'Get off me'. If he had said that and I had realised how he felt, I wouldn't have put my arm round him."
He said he had been hoping to get a selfie with Prof Whitty to show to his mother, adding: "There was no malicious intent, I didn't want to upset him."
