THE SUN LINKS

 

HOME  |  AUTOMOTIVE  |  EDUCATION  |  FILMS  |  MUSIC  NEWS POLITIC  |  SITE INDEX  SPORT

 

 

 

THE SUN

 

  Sport  Bizarre  Life  Page 3

 

 

 

News A to Z directory, please click on the links below to find your favourite news or to contact the media to tell your story about injustice, prejudice, discrimination or corruption.

 

JO YEATES MURDER

 

Joanna Clare "Jo" Yeates (19 April 1985 – 17 December 2010) was a 25-year-old landscape architect from Hampshire, England, who went missing on 17 December 2010 in Bristol after an evening out with colleagues. Following a highly publicised appeal for information on her whereabouts and intensive police enquiries, her body was discovered on 25 December 2010 in Failand, North Somerset. A post-mortem examination determined that she had been strangled.

The murder inquiry, named Operation Braid, was one of the largest ever police investigations in the Bristol area. The case dominated news coverage in the United Kingdom around the Christmas period as Yeates' family sought assistance from the public through social networking services and press conferences. Rewards amounting to £60,000 were offered for information leading to those responsible for Yeates' death. The police initially suspected and arrested Christopher Jefferies, Yeates' landlord, who lived in a flat in the same building.

Vincent Tabak, a 32-year-old Dutch engineer and neighbour of Yeates, was arrested on 20 January 2011. Media attention at the time centred on the filming of a re-enactment of her disappearance for the BBC's programme, Crimewatch. After two days of questioning, he was charged on 22 January 2011 with Yeates' murder. On 5 May 2011, Tabak pleaded guilty to Yeates' manslaughter, but denied murdering her. His trial started on 4 October 2011; he was found guilty of murder on 28 October 2011, and sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation he serve at least 20 years.

A memorial service was held for Yeates at the parish church in the Bristol suburb where she lived; her funeral took place near the family home in Hampshire. Several memorials were planned, including one in a garden she had been designing for a new hospital in Bristol.

 

 

 

 

Christopher Jefferies

 

One case of particular note, had it gone to trial, is that of Chris Jefferies. The media had condemned him as guilty before any charge had been laid. They did this on the basis of probability and to sell newspapers. There was no thought of justice, or obtaining justice. They were pandering to presumed public opinion. With the new statute preventing a trial Judge from warning a Jury about convicting without the need for any physical or other corroborating evidence, we feel that Mr Jefferies would without any doubt have been convicted - since the law requiring the state to prove guilt was reversed is cases where sexual assault is part of the crime. This may breach the Article 6 requirement for a fair trial - since the onus is now on the defence to prove innocence.

 

The manner in which certain aspects of the case were reported by the British media led to one television broadcaster being temporarily banned from attending press conferences, and the instigation of legal proceedings against several newspapers by both Yeates' former landlord, and the Attorney General. It is bad enough that a young lady had been murdered, but to seek to capitalise on that fact is not only immoral but criminal irresponsibility.

Following a television news report on 4 January 2011 that criticised the handling of the investigation, ITN reporters were banned by the Avon and Somerset Constabulary from attending a press conference convened to give updates on the murder case. The item, presented by journalist Geraint Vincent claimed police had made little progress with their investigation, and questioned whether they were following correct procedural methods. A former murder squad detective told the report that "certain routine inquiries" such as looking for fresh evidence at the crime scene were not being carried out. ITN accused the police of attempting "to censor what information we can broadcast" while the constabulary filed a complaint with the Office of Communications, calling the broadcast "unfair, naïve and irresponsible reporting". The police subsequently lifted the sanctions against ITN, but said that they would "not hesitate to adopt similar tactics in the future." Legal action was also considered over a tweet revealing that Tabak had viewed internet pornography showing erotic asphyxiation and bondage. The contempt of court charges were dropped after the tweet was removed.

Writing in London's Evening Standard on 5 January 2011, the media commentator Roy Greenslade expressed concern over a number of negative articles that had appeared in newspapers concerning Yeates' landlord, Chris Jefferies, following his arrest, describing the coverage as "character assassination on a large scale". He cited several examples of headlines and stories that had been published, including a headline in The Sun describing Jefferies – a former teacher at Clifton College – as weird, posh, lewd and creepy; a story from the Daily Express quoting unnamed former pupils referring to him as "a sort of Nutty Professor" who made them feel "creeped out" by his "strange" behaviour; and an article from the Daily Telegraph, which reported Jefferies "has been described by pupils at Clifton College…as a fan of dark and violent avant-garde films". Jefferies launched legal action against six newspapers on 21 April – The Sun, the Daily Mirror, the Daily Star, the Daily Express, the Daily Mail and the Daily Record – seeking damages for libel. On 29 July he accepted "substantial" damages for defamation from The Sun, the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror, the Daily Record, the Daily Mail, the Daily Express, the Daily Star and The Scotsman in connection with their coverage of his arrest. In an interview following Tabak's conviction, Jefferies commented: "It has taken up a whole year virtually of my life, that period of time has meant that everything else that I would normally be doing has been in abeyance." He criticised the government's plans to change the law on legal aid, which he said would prevent people with limited means from taking action against newspapers.

Dominic Grieve, the Attorney General for England and Wales, stated on 31 December 2010 that he was considering action under the Contempt of Court Act 1981 to enforce the obligation of the media not to prejudice a possible future trial. Criminology professor David Wilson commented on the resonance of the murder case with the national news media: "The British public loves a whodunnit ... It's a particularly British thing. We were the first nation to use murder stories to sell newspapers and that culture is more ingrained here than elsewhere." Wilson called Yeates, a white female professional, an "ideal victim" for the media. On 1 January, Yeates' boyfriend Greg Reardon commented on the media coverage surrounding the arrest of Christopher Jefferies: "Jo's life was cut short tragically but the finger-pointing and character assassination by social and news media of as yet innocent men has been shameful."

On 12 May 2011, the Administrative Court granted the Attorney General permission to move a motion for committal for contempt of court against The Sun and the Daily Mirror for the way they had reported the arrest of Jefferies. On 29 July, the court (Lord Judge CJ, Thomas LJ & Owen J) ruled that both newspapers had been in contempt of court, and fined the Daily Mirror £50,000 and The Sun £18,000. The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Judge stated that "in our judgment, as a matter of principle, the vilification of a suspect under arrest is a potential impediment to the course of justice." The publishers of The Sun and the Daily Mirror subsequently appealed against their fines, but the Mirror case was rejected by the Supreme Court of England and Wales on 9 March 2012, while The Sun withdrew its appeal.

 

 

 

Chris Jefferies, wrongly accused, wrongful arrest.

 

 

 

PHONE TAPPING

 

The phone tapping scandal is another issue that brings the press and the criminal justice system into disrepute. The press were breaking the law to obtain private information and the Information Commissioner knew all about it but were turning a blind eye - for who knows what reason. Yet again the press cannot be relied on to report impartially and in accordance with the laws of the land.

 

 

 

News A to Z directory, please click on the links below to find your favourite news or to contact the media to tell your story:

 

 

ABC NEWS AUSTRALIA

AUTO EXPRESS

AUTOCAR & MOTOR MAGAZINE

AWAKE MAGAZINE

BBC NEWS UK

BECKETT GROUP NEWSPAPERS

CLEANTECH MAGAZINE

DAILY EXPRESS

DAILY MAIL

DAILY MIRROR

EASTBOURNE HERALD

ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA

EVENING STANDARD

FINANCIAL TIMES

FORBES MAGAZINE

GUARDIAN NEWS

HAILSHAM GAZETTE

HELLO MAGAZINE

ITV NEWS HEADLINES

KENT & SUSSEX COURIER

KIT CARS MAGAZINE

LOS ANGELS TIMES

MAGAZINES

MARINE TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

MOTOR BOAT & YACHTING

MOTOR BOATS MONTHLY

MUSIC WEEK MAGAZINE

NEW SCIENTIST

NEW YORK TIMES

NEWS of the WORLD

NEWSPAPERS

NEWSQUEST

PLAYBOY MAGAZINE

PRACTICAL BOAT OWNER

PRESS ASSOCIATION

PRIVATE EYE

PUNCH

REUTERS

ROLLING STONE

SEAHORSE MAGAZINE

SKY NEWS

SUSSEX EXPRESS

THE ARGUS

THE ECONOMIST

THE INDEPENDENT

THE OBSERVER

THE SCOTSMAN

THE SUN

THE SUNDAY TIMES

THE TELEGRAPH

THE TIMES

THE WASHINGTON POST

TIME MAGAZINE

TOP GEAR MAGAZINE

WALL STREET JOURNAL

YACHTING MONTHLY

YACHTING WORLD

 

 

 

 

 

IF YOU HAVE ANY GOOD STORIES TO TELL THEY'D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU WITH PICTURES, ETC.