The transcripts of the official inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press. More…
Thank you.
Yes, yes. Definitely, yes, which I demonstrated to the Tribunal and my sports editor in the -- in my disciplinary hearing.
No, no, not at all. I actually took legal counsel about taking legal action against Arsenal Football Club over comments they made by email to my paper and sports editor, but it was out of time by the time my tribunal had finished, so I couldn't do anything about ...
An accurate record of the complaint, yes.
No.
But I'm saying this is maybe where it falls short. Maybe there needs to be an all-encompassing body to mete out fairness, as well, on all walks of media life. But I think it was nearly there, but just didn't obviously clearly have enough weight behind it. How ...
No, I agree with that. I think everyone should be a member of it. Otherwise it doesn't work. Every paper in Fleet Street, and not just papers; TV websites, the --
No, I think that is a very difficult conversation, about how to give the PCC enough weight.
Clearly the Press Complaints Commission has suffered quite a battering in the last sort of year or so. In my experience, certainly on sport, any complaint to them was taken very seriously and editors would take it very seriously. So it's -- I don't see how it's right ...
When I spoke to the New York Times -- me and Sean Hoare spoke to the New York Times, I wasn't really sort of whistle-blowing. I suppose I was blowing a fuse more than anything else, because I was very upset in the treatment -- no, I was upset about how ...
I'm sure News of the World would love people to believe that.
Never, no, no.
Oh, it's entirely down to that. I was a very fit and healthy person until 2005.
I'm still on medication, but I'm certainly a lot stronger now that it's all behind me.
Well, as it turned out, it did, but my illness, I suppose, they would class as a frailty, yeah.
There was evidence in my tribunal from the managing editor of the Sun at the time, who actually said that he would consider giving me a probation period if there was a job going on the Sun, to wait and see how I would cope with that, which my barrister ...
I have, and nothing's come forward.
I'm the guy who's taken on the bosses, really. You know, tribunals like this in the newspaper industry are extremely rare. Normally there's some kind of out-of-court settlement. For it to go the distance is very rare, so who would want to employ someone who's taken ...
Well, it's finished it.
Certainly.
Yes.
No, not in these notes.
It was about -- in fact, it was three weeks after my judgment arrived. I can only think maybe it was a former colleague who felt that once my judgment in my tribunal had finished, maybe they were able to tell me. I would still love to know who it was.
I've been in contact with the police and so far they've cross-checked it against the Mulcaire notes and my name hasn't appeared, but they've told me that they'll get back to me. They have more stuff to go through to cross-check my name against.
That's right, yes.
The editor had decided he wanted me out, so his executives went along with that instruction by any means possible to find ways to get me off the paper. And here we had a colleague of mine, Neville Thurlbeck, had done things that I wouldn't dream of doing myself ...
That's right, yes. As I said, it did highlight what I knew all along, that I was being treated completely differently to other people on the paper, in a very cynical manner.
No, and that was a great help during my tribunal. The Max Mosley case did help to highlight the disparity of treatment.
They seemed to give them a lot of help, yeah, but I got none.
Initially, yes, we asked for that.
It's almost laughable, really, that he would even suggest something like that. This is a business. These people went to jail for something that they had done, and to give this impression of this lovely family atmosphere -- as I said, it's laughable. I asked for help with my ...
No. Certainly not.
Yes, actually, Mr Turner will be able to supply those.
The appeal? Yes. There was obviously very lengthy delays as well, after that. They even went to the Court of Justice for an injunction to stop me going any further forward. There were three different appeals that -- Mr Turner will be able to go into probably a bit more detail.
They didn't just appeal it. They appealed it three times.
Yes. Along with some other things that I wanted, including my company car, et cetera, and no apology was ever forthcoming. There was no suggestion even that they would apologise.
In the light of this judgment, in the light of the years of terrible treatment I suffered at their hands.
I felt I was owed an apology.
I instructed my legal team to ask them for an apology.
Yeah.
Mm.
Only from what Mr Turner has told me.
