Who controls our "justice system"?? (The Sunday Mirror)

Name: beowulf

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Product:	The Sunday Mirror
Date:	13.04.01 (122 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The editor faces a jail term

Disadvantages: It will never happen

The collapse of the high-profile trial of Leeds United player's Lee Bowyer and Jonathon Woodgate this week serves as a stark reminder to the dangers of press intrusion. The pair were facing serious assault charges against a 19-year-old Asian student Sarfraz Najeib, who was beaten unconscious in a vicious street attack. If convicted they would both be facing lengthy jail terms.

The Hull trial ended in farcical circumstances after Judge David Poole ruled an interview published in the Sunday Mirror could seriously prejudice the result of the trial. The interview was with Najeib’s father who claimed the attack was racially motivated which was in direct contrast to the view that the court, both prosecution and defence, took. The fact that this interview was published at all is a disgrace, the fact that it was published while the jury were still deliberating on their verdict borders on the criminal.

The man with the ultimate responsibility for publishing the article, Sunday Mirror Editor Colin Myler, has subsequently resigned as a result of the scandal. His bosses at the Mirror Group of Newspapers immediately disassociated themselves from the editor by calling his decision to publish “a serious error of judgement…”. But this whole sorry debacle goes much further than an error of judgement in my book.

Most sane members of public, let alone the well-established editor of a national Sunday tabloid, would realise that such an emotive and impassioned argument from someone so directly involved in this case could potentially sway the opinion of even the most strong-minded juror and, therefore, seriously prejudice the case. The first mantra you are taught at journalist’s college when reporting on a court case is to purely stick to the basic facts until the verdict has been returned. This usually means you are able to report on the name, age and charges faced by the defendants, and any daily information gleaned from the
arguments of both prosecution and defence.

I find it extremely hard to believe that such an experienced journalist as Colin Myler did not realise that this article could seriously sway the opinion of the jury whilst they were deliberating. Otherwise it is a very strange coincidence indeed that this attention-grabbing article was published on the same day that the News of the World ran with a front page giving full details of the ‘Countess of Wessex tapes’ where Sophie implicated herself by spouting strongly-held opinions on a variety of public figures. This was done purely in the public interest, of course, according to the News of the World and had nothing to do with sales.

The tragedy of this particular case is two-fold. First is the fact that Najeib’s attackers have not yet been brought to justice, whoever they may be. The second is that one fairly talented defender (Woodgate) and one extremely gifted midfielder (Bowyer) will not get the chance to play for England while a shadow of doubt still hangs over them (whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty by the way??). To his credit, the judge has ordered a retrial to begin in October, but one can’t help but think that legal argument will wrap the case up well before then. So all we are left with is the cost of the case so far - £2 million in police investigation and some £8 million in trial expenses. In total that’s a £10 million bill for what was summed up as a “…serious error of judgement…”. Once again the only winners are the lawyers.

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