Lawyers circle Major and attack press for poor conduct

The big tabloid story of the week - Edwina Currie's revelations of an extra-marital affair with John Major before he was Prime Minister- provoked not only shocked mutterings and stifled sniggers, but also a swift response from the lawyers.

In 1993, Mr Major sued two magazines, New Statesman and Scallywag, which reported a false claim that he had had an affair with Downing Street caterer Clare Latimer - an allegation, he claimed, which damaged his reputation.

The two magazines were hit hard by the case - Scallywag ceased publication soon afterwards - and this week 'New Statesman editor Peter Wilby said the action nearly closed the title, and the outcome may have been different if the Currie affair had emerged then' (London Metro, 30 September).

As a result, 'David Price, the magazine's solicitor at the time, said that the publisher may seek to recover its losses'.

He claimed that 'John Major's claim against my clients...was on the basis that it was a serious attack on his reputation to accuse him of adultery'.

However, on the basis of what has emerged this weekend, Mr Price maintained 'it is apparent that this was a false promise'.

More lawyers on the attack this week, with Michael Mansfield QC lashing out at the tabloid press for 'their conduct during the inquest into the death of a man at the entertainer Michael Barrymore's home' (BBC on-line, 15 September).

Mr Mansfield represented Mr Barrymore during last month's inquest (which returned an open verdict) into the death of Stuart Lubbock, found floating in Mr Barrymore's swimming pool last year.

Mr Mansfield attacked 'cheque-book journalism' which 'runs the risk of prejudicing statements given by witnesses', and moved on to accuse sections of the press of 'misreporting the evidence presented at the hearing'.

Mr Mansfield has written to the Attorney-General to protest about the way the inquest was reported, and specifically at the 'lurid and inaccurate headlines [which] could influence witnesses'.

The Crown Court was also in the dock this week, with a report proposing a shake-up in the amount of responsibility given to crown prosecutors.

The government's four-month pilot showed that 'plans to transfer responsibility for charging suspects from the police to the Crown Prosecution Service should lead to more convictions, fewer discontinued cases and more guilty pleas' (The Guardian, 26 September).

Results from the pilot - which was carried out in Avon & Somerset, Essex, Kent, North Wales and West Yorkshire - showed that conviction rates in the areas, previously 42% up to 69%, had shot up to between 73% and 100%.

More defendants pleaded guilty at the first hearing - 'an overall average of 75% compared to a previous range of between 25% and 73%' - and 'only four of the 204 cases studied were discontinued, a significant improvement, according to the consultants'.

Further shake-up of the court system was called for by Dame Brenda Hale, 'the judge tipped to become Britain's first "law lady'' (The Guardian, 30 September), who spoke out this week against 'lawyers who cross-examine vulnerable witnesses into the ground in their enthusiasm to do the best for their clients'.

Speaking at the Bar Conference in London, Dame Brenda - 'widely expected to become the first woman to sit in the House of Lords as a judge' and 'one of only three women to reach the Court of Appeal' - claimed that 'those who regularly cross-examine vulnerable witnesses into the ground wouldn't dream of treating their own partners, children and vulnerable relatives that way.'

And finally, congratulations are due to The Independent's legal affairs correspondent and former Gazette City correspondent Robert Verkaik, who was this week named the Bar Council's legal journalist of the year.

Mr Verkaik's 'outstanding' interview with a barrister appearing for one of the Stephen Lawrence suspects was singled out for praise, as was his 'article on the legal status of transsexuals, which gave a clear explanation to his readers of a complex area of the law' (The Independent, 28 September).

Victoria MacCallum