There were two Branch Committee members in London who were, without doubt, two of the most sinister persons I have ever had the misfortune to meet. The truly unnerving thing was the facade of pleasantness that they both maintained, whilst maneuvering behind the scenes to exercise an almost tyrannical authority, engaging in power struggles, and arranging for milder persons to be demoted and eventually shoved out of the branch. Everyone knew what they were like, but as BC members, they were untouchable, unless we gathered evidence and spoke to the Zone Overseer, as we did once.
One of them was from New Zealand, and the other was an elderly British brother, whose wife was well known for her sharp tongue and viciousness, towards younger Bethelites. The excuse proffered was that she was getting old, and may be suffering from senility. Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth - the sister was permitted to speak to others how she wished because her husband was an influential member of the BC, and he himself was not much better. I once had the misfortune of witnessing her giving a withering put-down to a 33 year old man, in front of his wife, in the couple's own home. Instead of asking her and her husband to leave, the man simply accepted it, whilst the husband sat there chuckling to himself. It was very very embarrassing - we were so shocked. we left shortly afterwards, whilst the miserable couple had to continue to play host to the elderly couple.
There was also a couple in one of my old congregation that were so evil (there really is no other word for it) towards their own boys that one of them simply fled the family home, and the other was disfellowshipped and thrown out on the street shortly thereafter. Never have I seen such a loveless treatment of an individual - and he was disfellowshipped simply for looking at pornography repeatedly, and it was his own mother who informed the elders. The complete lack of love he and his brother were shown over the years as they were brought up, as the parents "enforced" WT directives such as "Bible Study", "appropriate association", and so on, marked them out as truly nasty. The husband was desperate to be appointed an elder, and was growing visibly angry at remaining a MS for over 10 years, whilst I was there. I dread to think of the poor brothers if that man has been appointed!
PP