[no subject]

A 'paedophile' witch-hunt? A media circus? Or is
Britain really a nation of celebrity sex suspects?
By Terry Kirby
17 January 2003


The question is: who's next? Will it be one of the two
former Labour ministers, or another television
presenter? Or perhaps another internationally known
pop star will be named as the subject of a police
inquiry into serious sexual offences, his picture
emblazoned across newspaper front pages, the press
pack camped on his doorstep.

What is certain is that in the wake of the Pete
Townshend and Matthew Kelly cases this week, it is
only a matter of time before the identity of the next
celebrity suspect is leaked to the media and the cycle
of naming and shaming will begin again.

Indeed, it is a cycle that follows a familiar pattern:
the first hints in the tabloids of "a well-known name"
linked to paedophilia or child porn. Then, one media
outlet is brave or foolish enough to use the name 
and suddenly it's open season on that person's private
life and public work. Then comes the high-profile
arrest by police, accompanied by a media scrum and the
popping of a thousand flashbulbs.

In some cases  Gary Glitter and Jonathan King, for
example  the accused are guilty of awful crimes. But
other cases  such as that of David Jones, the former
Southampton Football Club manager  where individuals
are cleared by a jury but must live with the stigma
for the rest of their lives, raise serious questions
about whether there are sufficient safeguards in place
in both the media and the criminal justice system to
protect the reputations of the innocent.

Whatever the outcome of the Townshend and Kelly cases,
for the rest of their lives both men will see events
of the past few days revisited every time their names
are mentioned in the media. At the same time, if
either of these cases does reach court, can they be
guaranteed a fair trial? Or, as Townshend is reported
to have said last weekend, "I haven't been charged
with anything. But I think I'm fucked.''

The case of Mr Jones is a reminder of what can happen.
In 1999, as manager of the Premiership club
Southampton, Mr Jones was arrested by Merseyside
detectives investigating child abuse allegations 
part of the nationwide inquiry into abuse in care
homes in the 1970s and 1980s. Mr Jones has worked in
care homes in his native Merseyside.

A man well-liked within the football business, he
endured 18 months of personal and professional turmoil
before the charges were dropped in December 2000,
after one of his accusers refused to give evidence in
court. He had been given leave of absence by his club
to fight the case, but was replaced by Glenn Hoddle
before the trial. Dismissing the charges, the judge at
Liverpool Crown Court congratulated him on the
"restraint and dignity'' with which he had behaved,
and added: "There will be people who are going to
think there is no smoke without fire ... Such an
attitude would be wrong. No wrongdoing on your part
has been established.''

The judge's comments made little difference to his
club, which did not offer him his old job back, or to
those on the terraces who continue to chant insults at
him at matches he now attends as manager of
Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Similar cases, such as that of Quinten Hann, the
leading snooker player who was cleared of rape
offences last year, raise the question of whether
anonymity should be granted to anyone accused of sex
offences. This had been the case, but the law was
changed in the late 1980s because of the practical
difficulties it created. If, for instance, a rape
suspect escaped custody, the police could not issue a
warning naming him as a potential rapist without
getting judicial permission.

The Home Office, the judiciary and civil rights
pressure groups such as Liberty are in rare agreement
that the overriding principle of openness is a vital
ingredient in the criminal justice system, while
acknowledging the stress to some in specific cases.
John Wadham, director of Liberty, said: "The right to
open justice is a fundamental one and we believe that
defendants should be tried in public and the public
should know what goes on.''

Why single out sex offenders for anonymity and name
those accused of even more serious crimes, such as
murder? How would anonymity for sex offences apply
where other offences are involved? Harry Fletcher, of
the National Association of Probation Officers, said:
"While cases like Townshend and Kelly do raise the
issue of anonymity, it is difficult to see how to draw
the line.''

What all sides agree on is that matters would be
simpler if both the police and the media behaved
themselves. The media should be well aware that the
provisions of the Contempt of Court Act, which
restrict the amount of background material that can be
published, apply at the point of arrest and not, as is
sometimes commonly supposed, at the point of charge.
This has allowed newspapers to cite examples of
Townshend's work as showing his interest in child
abuse. Townshend has claimed that his interest arises
from being abused as a child and his campaigning
against child abuse.

The reluctance of government law officers to take
action against the media in all but a few very high
profile cases  such the Sunday Mirror's fine for its
coverage during the trial of the Leeds footballers Lee
Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate  and the tendency of
judges to dismiss defence claims of prejudice at the
outset of trials has given the media considerable
licence. Mr Wadham said: "My real concern is that the
disclosure of details of [a suspect's] background
creates real problems for people getting a fair trial.
This is not simply in relation to celebrity sex cases,
but the issue of terrorist crimes as well.''

Despite the fact that the Association of Chief Police
Officers has warned all police forces that anyone
under investigation, but not charged, should not be
named, it is inevitable that famous names will
unofficially leak out. Scotland Yard has still not
officially named Townshend as the 57-year-old man they
have interviewed.

However it is likely that somewhere in the
Metropolitan Police lies the source of the original
story which prompted him to identify himself. And it
is quite possible that, at this very moment, that same
person is scanning the list of thousands of people who
logged on to paedophile websites and which forms the
cornerstone of Operation Ore, in search of yet more
famous names.

-Brian in Atlanta
The Who This Month!
http://www.thewhothismonth.com
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com