News of the World phone hacking scandal

ifp

ifp

Well-known member
£2m payout to Dowler family plus £1m to charity...

Wonder how long hey can keep up with these huge payouts.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
Three million is buttons to News International - if it keeps someone out of jail they will think it's money well spent. But how can it be ok for a company to make a payment like this when there is a chance of a trial involving some of its executives coming up and the Dowlers may well be witnesses against them?
 
ifp

ifp

Well-known member
surely the settlement will involve the dowlers agreeing not to take any furyther action against NI, as with Sienna Miller, Gordon Taylor, etc.

Glad Coogan and some of the others decided they didn't need the money and are taking it through the courts.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
But I thought that you couldn't pay your way out of a criminal trial because (nominally at least) it's between the crown and the accused. Sure, if you feel you've been libelled (or in some other way been sinned against in a civil way) you can agree to settle out of court with the people you feel have wronged you. But if someone has been murdered or another crime against the state has been potentially committed then it's not up to anyone beyond the crown prosecutor to choose whether or not to pursue it. As I see it I guess that the Dowlers are more in the position of witnesses in a criminal trial than they are in the position of plaintiffs in a civil case. That's why this blatant buying off seems so wrong.
 
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
Utterly amazing.

I particularly like this bit:

“We object to the publication of any story based on this information which has been obtained from a source with no authority to place such information in the public domain. We will be pursuing this matter further.”
Click to expand...

Also read on Twitter (no source) that Coulson is suing NI for breach now that they've stopped paying his lawyers.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
No-one talking about the Wall Street Journal sales ramping thing (and the resignation connected with it)? This would be bad news if it can be made to stick right?
What's interesting is that it seems to be almost open war between the Guardian and News Corp - the Guardian are on the offensive at the moment, it really seems they want to hound Murdoch as much as possible. And I have to admit that I am right behind them in that noble aim.
 
you

you

Well-known member
Idlerich - yeah, I think thats totally normal for lawyers, it's the whole "tell me the truth, I need to know the truth so I can help you... here's your options"

Owning up to something, or lying in the faith the truth wont out is the clients choice right....
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
Idlerich - yeah, I think thats totally normal for lawyers, it's the whole "tell me the truth, I need to know the truth so I can help you... here's your options"
Click to expand...
Not sure about that - I asked my friend who is a lawyer (admittedly a property lawyer) and he said that dimly remembered lectures plus Rumpole of the Bailey tell him that in criminal law a barrister is not allowed to defend a man he knows to be guilty. Of course this wasn't about defending a criminal case and maybe that's the difference.

Juliea - can't get your link to work.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
Becoming more farcical by the minute:

Culture Committee (as represented by Paul Farrelly) - "Do you consider that anyone at News International kept you in the dark?"

Les Hinton - "I can't answer that question because I don't know what happened"
Click to expand...
 
Sectionfive

Sectionfive

bandwagon house
Phoenix (our Eye,) is suggesting a replacement for the UK and Irish versions of the Sunday World will be launched early next year.
 
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