Jeremy Hunt stresses difference between off-the-record briefings and payments to police revealed by phone-hacking investigation The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has criticised the decision by police to question a Guardian journalist over alleged leaks from Scotland Yard’s phone-hacking inquiry. The cabinet minister told MPs: “There is an important difference between off-the-record briefing and the payment of money by or to the police in return for information. “Journalists must operate within the law, but, as the prime minister told the [parliamentary] liaison committee, as we go through this entire process we must be careful not to overreact in a way that would undermine the foundations of a free society.” Hunt was responding to a question by Tom Watson, the Labour MP for West Bromwich East, who said: “There is a world of difference between a journalist who bribes a police officer for information and a journalist who gets information from a police officer, freely given. The former corrodes our democracy, while the latter protects it.” Guardian journalist Amelia Hill, who part of the Guardian’s team reporting on the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, was questioned by police under caution several days ago in a move that has been condemned by the NUJ and media watchdog the Media Standards Trust. A 51-year-old detective was arrested last month in connection with alleged leaks from the Scotland Yard phone-hacking investigation. At the time there were reports that the officer had passed information to the Guardian. However, the newspaper said at the time it had “no comment to make on the sources of our journalism”. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter at and Facebook . Phone hacking The Guardian Press freedom Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers James Robinson guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …President Obama will tell the nation tonight what he thinks the federal government should do to try to get the economy moving again and put people to work. Unfortunately for him, a new poll suggests most Americans don’t think any of the major approaches on the table are likely to succeed. The Pew Research Center
Continue reading …Eduardo Sencion, the 32-year-old suspected gunman who killed four people in a senseless shooting at a Carson City IHOP , had a history of mental illness but no criminal record, according to a profile by AP . Sencion fought with police in 2000 when he was taken into protective custody for a…
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Commanders say Omaid Khpalwak was ‘mistakenly’ shot dead as suicide bombers attacked a police station Nato has admitted accidentally shooting dead a BBC journalist in Afghanistan during a battle against insurgents, the Guardian has learned. Military officials met close relatives of Omaid Khpalwak on Thursday and apologised for their “mistake” during an operation against a squad of insurgents, who had attacked a police command post. Khpalwak, who was hiding in fear during the attack and spoke good English, was shot 11 times. His brother Jawid, who always maintained that his brother was killed by Nato forces, said his family remained angry at Nato’s actions on the day. “They thought he was a suicide bomber, but how?” Jawid asked. “He spoke English and would have been showing his press card.” It is understood that it was US troops who shot Omaid. They were responding to an attack on a police command post near their base in Tarin Kot, the provincial capital of Uruzgan on 28 July. A Nato official confirmed that the military alliance had met the family and offered its condolences for the mistake. The official said they would issue a press release shortly. Omaid Khpalwak was at a TV station that adjoined the command post when a squad of suicide bombers attacked. He hid in fear, texting his brother: “I am hiding. Death has come.” Then, soon after, “Pray for me if I die”. Omaid worked for the BBC as its stringer in the southern province of Uruzgan, as well as an Afghan online news service. His brother said he was still receiving threats after speaking out against the foreign military. “People are threatening me and my family. All 10 of us are very scared of staying in Uruzgan because of this,” said Jawid. Omaid, 25, who was married with a young daughter, had forged a reputation as a brave and dedicatedreporter. His work, however, had made him powerful enemies in the province, including the warlord Matiullah Khan. Omaid had earlier this year completed a hostile-environment training course and his instructorsaid he had advised the journalist, if confronted by foreign military, to put his hands over his head and speak English. BBC War reporting Journalist safety Afghanistan Nato guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Nearly two years after getting busted for trying to sell US technology secrets to Israel , a top American scientist has confessed to attempted espionage, reports the BBC . Stewart Nozette, who had high security clearances for years with NASA, the National Space Council, and the Department of Energy, will likely serve…
Continue reading …Casey Anthony reportedly plans to head far, far away from media and public scrutiny to Mexico to settle down with a mystery California lover, says the Daily Mail . Anthony exchanged letter with her wealthy admirer in prison and they began an affair after she was acquitted of killing her child….
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Jonathan Haynes may be guilty of many more crimes, say police A soldier who raped three teenagers and tried to abduct two schoolgirls has been jailed indefinitely. Jonathan Haynes, 30, raped two of the teenagers after seizing them on the streets of a market town and attacked the third at a university hall of residence. Haynes, a lance corporal with the Royal Logistic Corps, tried to grab the two 14-year-old schoolgirls from a country lane. Haynes was given an indeterminate sentence for public protection and ordered to serve at least 11 years imprisonment – but was warned he may never be released. As he passed sentence, Judge Neil Ford QC, the recorder of Bristol, described Haynes as a “clever and cunning predator”. A jury was told that Haynes, who was based at a barracks near Chippenham in Wiltshire, meticulously planned his attacks. The first kidnap and rape happened in September 2009 in Chippenham as the 16-year-old victim made her way home from a night out. Just 13 days later he raped an 18-year-old student after forcing entry to halls of residence in Pontypridd, south Wales. The following February, he attempted to snatch the two schoolgirls late at night from a country lane near Chippenham. Weeks later Haynes kidnapped a 17-year-old girl off the streets of Chippenham and repeatedly raped her. Haynes did not realise that the hired car he was driving was fitted with a GPS tracking device. After his arrest, detectives were able to piece together his movements and establish that he had been cruising the streets of Chippenham during the early hours looking for victims, or “sharking”. One of his victims had the presence of mind to pull out some of her hair during her ordeal and push it down the car seat to prove she had been there. Haynes, of Northampton, was found guilty of rape, kidnap and attempted kidnap. Speaking after the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Bob Hamlin, of Wiltshire police, said that there could be many more victims and that his team were examining other unsolved cases in the area. He said: “We are investigating more cases that are unsolved but it is hard to put a figure on just how many more offences this dangerous man could have committed. “He is one of the most evil men I’ve dealt with in 32 years of work. The horror the victims suffered can never be forgotten.” Crime Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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Senior police and home secretary acknowledge that gangs in London’s East End may use Games as crime opportunity Senior Scotland Yard officers believe that gangs in London may seek to disrupt the Olympics. Theresa May, the home affairs secretary acknowledged there was a possibility that gangs prevalent in the London’s East End will use the Olympics as an opportunity for criminality. She said the team preparing the Olympics policing were now looking again to see what they could learn from the riots. A former police officer made the claim in private evidence to the home affairs select committee. The anonymous officer recently involved in Operation Trident, the Metropolitan police operation against black gun crime, has also disclosed he believed senior gang members known to the police have avoided arrest leaving younger opportunists to carry the can. May has portrayed the bulk of the rioting as the product of sheer criminality, but suggested ony 25% were juveniles, a lower figure than others have suggested. She also appeared to put a question mark over suggestions that as many as 75% of those that have been arrested will prove to have previous convictions, saying the numbers will shift, and prove to be different from area to area. “I’m absolutely clear that what underlay it was criminality”, she said. She conceded that it had been senior police officers who had decided to increase police numbers on the streets before a Cobra meeting on the Tuesday morning, and that she had not been instrumental in such a policy taken by the Metropolitan police management team on the Monday night. At one stage she gave the impression she was directing police operations, a suggestion the police deeply resented. But she revealed that on a conference call on Wednesday morning she did urge chief constables nationwide to follow the lead of the Metropolitan police to cancel all leave and to ask special constables to be put on standby. “I made it absolutely clear to chiefs up and down the country to follow the example of the Met.” Her criticism of police tactics was largely coded, saying: “The police were confronted by a situation that was unprecedented and activity was springing up far more quickly than they had seen before, and they were having to find ways to cope with that. They were trying to put in place what they believed that from their experience was policing that worked, but in the event on the Monday night it did not, they and they had to increase those numbers on the Tuesday. She also admitted that many people felt “those who were on the streets seemed to be in control of parts of the streets”. May said that investigating the involvement of gangs was likely to be completed by the end of October, but added that the level of gang involvement “possibly is not as high as the government first thought”. On current evidence it would seem that the majority of people involved were not individuals who have been involved in gangs, although obviously a number of people involved were involved in gangs. “But there is some evidence that obviously there was some gang activity taking place in terms of encouraging people to take part in these events and as we saw, some of that encouragement was being propagated on social media.” Asked if the riots were prompted by the shooting of Mark Duggan by police in Tottenham, north London, on 4 August May said: “I would be very cautious in saying that the shooting had the sort of direct link that we’re talking about.” Some people “chose to go out on the streets and damage buildings and cause disorder,” she said. “What initiated that is something that none of us can wholeheartedly say we know.” She also revealed she believed the number of riot-trained police has to be increased. Currently it is voluntary for police to undertake riot training. It also became clear that the issue of the funding of the cost of the riots has yet to be resolved with the Home Office likely to challenge the costs tabled by various police authorities. May also said she was still looking at the idea of extending curfew powers, but seemed to back off the idea of closing down all social media during riots, arguing it as much a good way for the police to disseminate information. May said an inquiry was underway as to why Duggan’s partner was told by the police to wait outside the Tottenham police station as she sought to find out what had happened to him. She has reportedly claimed she waited outside for four hours. Local police in Tottenham were frustrated that they were not asked to police the demonstration that followed Earlier, shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said that blaming a “feral underclass” was lazy and absolved those involved of responsibility for their actions. He said government cuts were undermining efforts to deal with young criminals – as gang intervention projects were reducing their services or being closed down – which was in turn restricting sentencing options open to judges where community punishments might be more suitable. He said he wanted the courts to have an explicit duty to consider making an order for young criminals to participate in a restorative justice course. Theresa May UK riots Crime London Police Metropolitan police Olympic Games 2012 Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Phone hacking: Taylor ‘wanted to be vindicated or made rich’, say lawyers
September 8, 2011 No Comment
Letter from News of the World’s legal advisers says PFA boss increased claim to £1m after disclosure of ‘for Neville’ email Lawyers for Gordon Taylor said he wanted to be “vindicated or made rich” in negotiations over his controversial £700,000 phone-hacking settlement, according to the News of the World’s lawyers. Taylor, the head of the Professional Footballers’ Association, had got hold of a highly damaging internal email that proved phone hacking at the tabloid was not confined to “one rogue reporter”. The remarks were allegedly made after three previous offers for damages were made by the tabloid – the first for £50,000, the second for £150,000 and the third for £350,000. The new detail on Taylor’s confidential negotiations has emerged in a letter from News of the World’s legal advisers to the Commons culture, media and sport select committee . “We suggested making an initial offer of £50,000,” said Farrer & Co, which advised News International over the level of payouts. “However we advised that it was inevitable that Mr Taylor would want more in view of the fact that his initial demand for £250,000 had been increased by £750,000 to £1m.” When the first two offers were refused, News of the World told Farrer to increase the offer again. “The firm was instructed to increase the Part 36 offer to £350,000. This offer was also rejected. Mr Lewis [Mark, Taylor's solicitor] informed Mr Pike [Julian, a partner at Farrer] that Mr Taylor ‘wanted to be vindicated or made rich’.” At that point Taylor was demanding £1m in settlement as by now the significance of the so-called “for Neville” email was understood. “Following the disclosure of documents by the Metropolitan police and others to Mr Taylor, which were then disclosed by Mr Taylor to NGN [News Group Newspapers], Mr Taylor demanded £1m in way of settlement, plus costs,” Farrer confirms in its letter to the select committee. In the end Taylor managed to get £425,000 in damages from the News of the World plus costs. James Murdoch confirmed at the select committee hearing in July that Taylor’s overall payout was between £600,000 and £700,000 including costs . Other letters just published by the select committee reveal: • Stuart Kuttner, the former managing editor of News of the World, has written to say he is unable to re-appear before the select committee because of a police investigation and ill health. He told the committee he had “a heart attack and stroke last year and a further heart attack last month”. • Jon Chapman, the former head of the legal affairs at News International, did not receive £1.6m in a settlement when he left the company. His solicitors have told the committee his “compromise agreement with News International was a small fraction of £1.6m”. He continues to have the company’s private medical insurance until September 2012. •
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After Kenneth Clarke’s remarks about ‘a feral underclass’, the home secretary says politicians should not rush to judgment Politicians should refrain from rushing to judgment over the causes of the riots that swept across England, the home secretary told the Commons home affairs select committee. Theresa May said it was not helpful for politicians to “suddenly speculate” over what happened. The causes would only be known once all the evidence had been analysed, she said. Her comments came after Kenneth Clarke, the justice secretary, blamed a criminal “feral underclass” for the looting and violence on the streets in August. May told MPs that it was “difficult” to pinpoint the causes of the riots. “It’s not helpful for politicians to suddenly speculate over what happened,” she said. “I think one of the things I would say is there are a number of elements in terms of what happened.” These varied from place to place, she said. “I’m absolutely clear that what underlay it was criminality. Three-quarters of those arrested have criminal records.” Earlier, Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, said that blaming a “feral underclass” was lazy and absolved those involved of responsibility. The home secretary said that analysis of the involvement of gangs was continuing, but she added that “possibly it’s not as high as the government first thought”. She also admitted that many people felt “those who were on the streets seemed to be in control of parts of the streets”. Asked if the riots were prompted by the shooting of Mark Duggan by police in Tottenham, north London, on 4 August, May said: “I would be very cautious in saying that the shooting had the sort of direct link that we’re talking about.” Some people “chose to go out on the streets and damage buildings and cause disorder,” she said. “What initiated that is something that none of us can wholeheartedly say we know.” Asked if the shooting of Duggan triggered the riots, David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, said: “I think that this is the perfect storm of a catalogue of problems that could have avoided riots on the scale that we saw. A death of this kind we know from experience in London can trigger unrest.” Duggan’s family was “left floundering” and the “lack of communication did not help”, he said. “At that point community confidence is essential. That did not happen.” He said that despite concerns of tension and fear in the community, “I think this event was hijacked by those intent on causing criminal damage”. Lammy added: “We must never let criminals run the streets.” Theresa May UK riots David Lammy guardian.co.uk
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