tenaciousV

ENGLAND Celebrity trying to block news coverage of his sex adventures loses injunction attempt A “well-known individual” failed in his attempt to stop two media organisations from publishing allegations of inappropriate sexual activities towards young women, the London high court has ruled. The legal team for the anonymous individual, known in court only as PPT, had claimed he was “highly likely” to attempt suicide if the Guardian and ITN published allegations, which he denies. PPT’s legal team said he attempted to kill himself twice since contacted about the allegations in May. On the second occasion he absconded from a secure hospital to do so, they said. The judge in the case, Mr Justice Nicklin, concluded he was satisfied that a decision to permit publication of the claims, the anticipation of publication and publication itself “would each materially increase the claimant’s risk of suicide”. “That increase would be very substantial,” he said. However, he found that it was for the state’s health services to protect PPT from harm in the form of mental health treatment, rather than the court’s responsibility to protect him by stopping the allegations from being published. The claimant was seeking to block publication of the allegations by citing article two of the European convention on human rights (ECHR), which relates to the right to life; article three, relating to “inhuman or degrading treatment”; and article eight, which protects the right to respect for private and family life. Interesting: okay to sexually degrade underage girls, not okay to threaten the predator with public exposure, and therefore warn parents and girls of his nature. “The court has not assumed responsibility for the claimant’s psychiatric treatment or safety in the relevant sense,” Nicklin’s ruling states. “In the present case, the state assumes responsibility for the claimant’s immediate safety through the psychiatric hospital and mental health services. “The claimant is detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. The hospital exercises direct control over his care, observation, treatment, access to means of self-harm, leave and eventual discharge. It has assumed responsibility for the very risk with which article two is concerned. The evidence establishes that the hospital can provide significant protection." Nicklin said he had to balance the claimant’s rights with the media outlets’ right of freedom of expression. He said an injunction “will constitute an exceptionally serious interference” with their rights. “It will prohibit the defendants from publishing the results of their investigations into allegations of serious wrongdoing by a prominent individual. It will prevent the sources whose accounts form part of those investigations from communicating their experiences to the public.” Meanwhile, anonymity of the claimant remains in place because the judge granted him permission to appeal against the ruling. The newspaper and ITN expect the defendant to draw out an appeal as long as convenient to keep discovery of his name from public awareness. Nicklin’s ruling stated that the Guardian and ITN allege the claimant used his power and status as a well-known public figure to “establish contact with young women, who were also considerably younger than him, and engage, and/or seek to engage in inappropriate sexual activity. They claim the alleged incidents took place over several years and that some of them, if proved, amount to criminal offences. The judge emphasised that the current case did not examine whether the allegations against the claimant were true, but only whether the court should prevent the media outlets from publishing them. He said the proposed journalism “did not lose its public interest value” merely because the allegations were disputed. Photo: Hannah McKay

NATURE An ecologist in the Scottish Borders is fighting to be allowed to keep a badger that he saved from starvation. Graeme Wilson (pictured) was called out to help the cub in April after she was found in a cattle trough 100m (300ft) from her sett. Wilson nursed the badger back to health but believes she was hand-reared prior to this, and it would be impossible to return her to the wild. NatureScot - which turned down his application for an educational licence to keep the animal - said it was continuing talks to find a "pragmatic solution". Wilson runs GW Ecology, a small independent rescue and rehabilitation service at his home in Denholm. It carries out surveys to determine whether protected species are present on the sites of proposed property developments. He also leads bat walks, workshops and holds educational events about wildlife and how to protect it. Wilson describes himself as an "experienced and trained wildlife rehabber" who has cared for a variety of wildlife over the years. He argues an educational licence could allow him to support public understanding of badgers, wildlife rescue and caring for a protected species. He said that after rescuing Harriet, it quickly became evident to him that she could not go back to where he found her. He said NatureScot, the public body responsible for Scotland's natural heritage and wildlife, had told him she should be returned to the wild or sent to a zoo. However, he believes that releasing Harriet into the wild would only result in her being hurt or killed. "Badgers are companion animals, they are a social animal and unfortunately for Harriet she has decided that humans are her social group.

ENGLAND Another Reform 'leader' mired in sex accusations. Reform UK’s leader on Hampshire county council has been charged with 12 counts of rape and one of distributing indecent images of a child. George Madgwick, 37, (pictured) a councillor in Portsmouth and leads the Reform group on the council, was a prominent voice linked to recent protests in the town connected to the arrival of asylum seekers on small boats. A Crown Prosecution Service statement said the charges followed a police investigation into allegations connected to four complainants, aged 16 and 17 at the time, alleged to have taken place in Portsmouth and Wales between 2008 and 2021. On 6 January, officers arrested a man at an address in Wandsworth, London. The charges comprise 12 allegations of rape; eight of actual bodily harm; two of assault by penetration; two of sexual assault; two of controlling and coercive behaviour; two of making an indecent image of a child; one of distribution of an indecent image of a child; one of stalking; one of making threats to kill; one of false imprisonment; one of criminal damage; one of theft; and one of causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child. Lovely, friendly party, Reform. 🙄 Photo: Portsmouth News

AINT THAT THE TRUTH!