The Dragon Says: Ms Juneja Should Show True Remorse

Published on: 5 Jul, 2015
Updated on: 7 Jul, 2015

“And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids.”

This is how every episode of Scooby Doo, the American animated children’s show from the 1970s, ended as the young sleuths revealed the villain.

On Friday (July 3), a similar sentiment seem to be expressed, once again, by the disgraced former councillor Monika Juneja in a poorly worded, rambling response to a letter previously published in the Surrey Advertiser.

In her deluded flight of fancy she still appears to be unable to face the truth and the seriousness of crimes which she describes dismissively as “misdemeanours”.

The fact that her opponents were motivated to complain about her because they did not like her proposals for the Local Plan is, in her mind, worse than her lying, forging and pretending. Worse than embarrassing her friends, her constituents and political colleagues and worse than bringing Guildford Borough Council into disrepute.

The complainants’ legitimate motivation – they were quite entitled to oppose her proposals after all – is beside the point. She is the one who broke the law and broke it over many years.

It is time for her to face up to that reality. She is the guilty party in this whole sad affair, no one else. She should remember what the judge said about her public life being over and concentrate on doing her community service.

If she was writing letters and giving TV interviews only to offer apologies and show credible remorse and humility that would be one thing, it might even lead to some forgiveness, but to keep blaming the “meddling kids” is beyond the pale and continues to reflect badly on her and all those with whom she has been associated.

Responses to The Dragon Says: Ms Juneja Should Show True Remorse

Ben Paton Reply

July 5, 2015 at 6:58 pm

Ms Juneja’s opinion of the motivation of those who complained that she was dishonest to call herself a barrister is self serving.

The main reason people complained that Ms Juneja was dishonest was not that they were concerned she was advocating development in their area.

They thought honesty was a value in its own right – just as children are taught in school. They believed that the values which Guildford Borough Council sets out (including honesty), and which the Conservative party sets out, should be applied in practice and not only used as fine sounding words.

They considered that the rule of law should be applied – even to politicians with the power to create planning law. They were rightly concerned that the Draft Local Plan process showed a disregard for facts and for rules.

Development is not some greater good or greater purpose that justifies any means. It does not justify failing to follow planning rules or ignoring legitimate public criticism.

Allowing the local plan process to be led by someone with such scant regard for the law was not in the public interest. Those who appointed her and continued to support her long after the Bar Standards Board set out the law about falsely claiming to be a barrister should be accountable to the public.
Fiona White Reply

July 6, 2015 at 7:45 am

In her complaints about the people who drew attention to her bogus status Monika Juneja seems to have ignored the fact that, according to the evidence I read, she was already pretending to be a barrister before she was elected to Guildford Borough Council.

That was why she was convicted and not because people complained.

She needs to acknowledge that she committed a crime and serve her sentence. It is that simple.

Fiona White is the Surrey county councillor for Guildford West.
Martin Elliott Reply

July 6, 2015 at 9:47 pm

Monica Juneja has made allegations of threats against her to support her claims of political hate and racial discrimination. I really don’t find them to be relevant to her 14 years of criminal activity.

However, as she and Cllr Mansbridge say they both have thick files of these threats and have named the authors, isn’t it about time both of them produced some evidence?
Brian Holt Reply

July 7, 2015 at 9:31 pm

How is it justice for Monica Juneja, with all her serious crimes, to get only a two year suspended jail sentence and community service, while a resident in Southsea, whose crime was making a copy of a parking permit, and dodging payment of £50 council fees to Portsmouth Council for six months, was jailed for 16 weeks?