Rolf Harris sentenced to 5 years and 9 months in jail
On Friday morning Rolf Harris tried to evade photographers by leaving his home by boat for his final trip to Southwark Crown Court. He didn’t succeed and also rightly failed to avoid jail. (more…)
Rolf Harris convicted
We were amongst the first to name Rolf Harris as a paedophile and with today’s unanimous verdict that found him guilty on all counts, we celebrate his conviction.
This revolting individual destroyed the lives of his victims whilst shamelessly courting the likes of Her Majesty the Queen. The fact that – like Prince Charles with Jimmy Savile – such people failed to have advisors around them to tell them that such people were monsters is what is entirely wrong. Shame on the lot of them: It is time that the British elite manned up.
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It is time to step up Operation Fernbridge
As Max Clifford faces further police questioning and Rolf Harris’ trial hears that he wrote a letter to the father of an alleged victim stating “I know that what I did was wrong but we are, all of us, fallible and oh how I deluded myself”, we again call for greater transparency about Operation Fernbridge – an investigation that appears to simply not be getting enough attention from the Metropolitan Police. (more…)
Matthew Steeples argues that the detainment of David Miranda again illustrates why a clearer communications strategy is required on the part of the police
David Miranda’s detainment may have been legitimate and he may indeed have been carrying information that could be considered dangerous to Britain. Equally, though, these charges could simply be, as most suspect, trumped up by the Met. The main wrong in this story, however, is the way in which our police and their press departments have handled it. (more…)
Our man in whites Fred Sculthorp looks ahead to this week’s Test cricket series, The Ashes
The enemy are at the gates. The time has come. Tomorrow, two of the great sporting civilizations will clash in mankind’s most profound expression of physical and mental endurance- the five day Test match. (more…)
Bill Oddie defends Rolf Harris
“Personalities” from the 1980s seem to like making odd statements about paedophilia and sexual abuse. First it was William Roache and then came Jim Davidson and Max Clifford. All three have since been arrested and more recently Jeremy Irons and now Bill Oddie have stuck their oars in too.
Jilly Cooper defends Rolf Harris
In this morning’s Richard Kay column in the Daily Mail, it was reported that the author Jilly Cooper took to the defence of her friend the entertainer Rolf Harris before a television appearance in Dublin this weekend.
As Operation Yewtree detectives announce they will investigate five more personalities, bizarre conspiracy theories suggesting a Conservative led conspiracy against Stuart Hall, William Roache and Owen Oyston emerge
Last night, the Daily Mirror revealed that complaints about further personalities have been made to detectives from Operation Yewtree. On the list of additional individuals, whom shall now be investigated, are said to be “two singers, a pair of television personalities and a comedian”.
Jim Davidson bailed until July
Comedian Jim Davidson has been rebailed until an unspecified date in July today over alleged sex offences covered by Operation Yewtree today.
The conviction of Stuart Hall and the case of Rolf Harris illustrate the damage that Leveson has done to the free press
The British press, until the onset of the phone hacking scandal, was generally celebrated for being free, inquisitive and in the main decent. Yes, indeed, there were bad apples but it truly did its job well and in a perfectly accountable manner. Since Leveson, however, free reporting has been thrown out of the window and individuals facing exposure are using him as a protective smokescreen.