The perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the
Guido Fawkes blog were in buoyant mood this afternoon, as the trial of former
Sun journalist Clodagh Hartley ended
with her acquittal, and she “walked
free from the Old Bailey after a jury found her not guilty of paying for leaks
from a corrupt tax office official”. The official concerned had already
pleaded guilty.
The Great Guido was in no doubt
as to what had happened, proclaiming “Sun
Victory In Court”. But, as Captain Blackadder might have observed, there
was only one thing wrong with this idea – it was bollocks. For starters, although
the Sun and News UK were not in the
dock, they were effectively on trial too, and came out of proceedings with
their reputations in tatters.
Ms Hartley has no intention of going back into journalism,
and certainly not with the Sun. This
was not hard to understand, given she was shopped by her own employer: “She said she had no idea her conduct could
be questioned by police and hit out at the decision of the Sun’s
then-publisher, News International, to hand over swaths of data to the Met. ‘I
thought that sources would be protected’ Hartley said”.
Yes, the Super Soaraway Currant Bun was prepared to betray
its own staff, and the paper’s sources, if it thought it would better serve the
company’s interests. Some victory that is, eh, Fawkes folks? And, as the man
said, there’s more: “Hartley had told
jurors about the poisonous atmosphere working within the Sun’s Westminster
team, describing how a senior colleague bullied her and stole credit for her
work”.
Until the trial ended, it was not possible to know the
identity of this “senior colleague”,
although anyone who wanted to know already knew. “The paper’s political editor, Tom Newton Dunn, ‘had succeeded in stealing
contacts’ from her, while ‘bullying’ and constant demand for exclusive stories
meant she was forced to take time off to deal with the stress, she testified”.
Counsel for Newton Dunn took issue with this view, but sadly
for them and their client, Ms Hartley had already had a complaint of bullying
upheld against him. Now the whole world knows that the Sun’s non-bullying political editor, well, isn’t non-bullying at
all. The likelihood of collective raised eyebrows at the BBC, ITN and Sky News becoming
“we’ll ask someone else to appear, thanks”
is all too real now.
Moreover, Newton Dunn’s behaviour was central to Ms Hartley’s
defence. He is still in post, but for how long? And who is going to want to
work as part of that team, given his presence and all the talk of a “poisonous atmosphere”? There was no
victory for the Sun today, and the
only reason The Great Guido span the trial’s outcome that way was to prostrate
himself before Creepy Uncle Rupe.
The Fawkes rabble – sell-outs singing for their supper. Another fine mess.
He's a handsome beast too!
ReplyDeleteDid The Sun acknowledge the irony of Prof Roy Greenslade from The Guardian helped by testifying in her defence?
ReplyDeleteHow long before NI is itself in the dock? Surely any other company that has housed as much law breaking/questionable beheiviour(Ms Hartley's aquittal not withstanding) as is becoming apparent with every subsequent revelation, would by now be up before the beak?
ReplyDelete@ AndyC
ReplyDeleteIt looks as though a deal has been done to provide a few sacrificial lambs providing the law enforcement people don't proceed with action above a cetain level, doesn't it?
One excuse is that they employ lots of people in the UK and they those jobs could be at threat if they pull out of the UK. Much the same reason why the authorities in Italy didn't pursue the Mafia with any great conviction until their power grew too large for comfort?