THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING

june 2005 :: RMTnews 11 The Times newspaper recently agreed an out-of–court settlement with the union, paying both damages and legal costs after admitting to publishing a defamatory article about RMT general secretary Bob Crow. The right wing media have made a habit of aggressively attacking RMT. While they can get away with a great deal under the banner “freedom of the press”, when they go beyond this and potentially beyond the law, the union has shown they do so at their peril. In November 2003, The Times published an article under the heading “RMT union boss ‘taints election’”. The story labelled Bob the “hard-line leader of the RMT” and reported that he had allegedly interfered in an election by attacking a candidate. The article quoted ‘union insiders’ as calling the move an ‘outrageous’ attempt to influence voters which had ‘tainted the election, breaks several laws governing union ballots and is bringing the union into disrepute’. In fact, when a legal challenge was brought to the Independent Certification Officer of Trade Unions, it was ruled that Bob Crow and the union had acted lawfully throughout. Immediately the article was published, union solicitors wrote to The Times on the grounds the article was defamatory. The paper denied this was the case and High Court proceedings followed, which led to the out- of-court settlement. Doug Christie of RMT solicitors Thompsons said that the message was clear to the right wing press. “Be careful about what you say and do otherwise RMT will see you in court. “And look out for a knock on the door from the local constabulary,” he said. CONFIDENTIAL? At the time, it was not known how the scooter number plate had been traced to the owner. DVLA has since confirmed that these are confidential and could not be released to the press. However, some months later, RMT was contacted by the police in connection with an anti-corruption investigation, part of which centres on a request for ownership details of the scooter. Two years later it then transpired that the Mail on Sunday had indeed bought confidential information from the police national computer, a system used by all law enforcement agencies and stores criminal records and registered vehicle keeper details. Information contained within it is deemed confidential, and those with access to it are reminded of this within their contract of employment and when they log onto the computer. Articles from the Mail on Sunday were used in evidence against two former police employees and two private investigators charged with offences involving the sale of police information to the press. CONVICTED Riel Karmy-Jones, prosecuting, told Blackfriars crown court that Mr Whittamore had received the information "through a chain" made up of the three other defendants: the private investigator John Boyall, Alan King, a retired police officer, and Paul Marshall, a former civilian communications officer who was based at Tooting police station in London. “It was Paul Marshall who had access to the police national computer and carried out unauthorised checks upon it, passing his findings through the chain to Whittamore, who in turn disseminated it for financial reward,” she added. Judge John Samuel QC said that the defendants must have realised the lives those concerned would be “adversely affected” by their actions and pointed out the hypocrisy of their defence. “It is interesting to comment that some of you in the course of statements that were made on your behalf referred to such concepts as client confidentiality,” he said. Marshall and King both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office, while Whittamore and Boyall pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of breaching the Data Protection Act. All four were given a two-year conditional discharge. FURTHER ACTION Bob Crow said that he had become used to attacks from the Mail group of newspapers but this was something quite different. “If the Mail on Sunday is involved in receiving information from corrupt police officers, this should be investigated and it should face the consequences,” he said. However, the Information Commissioner, who polices the Data Protection Act, is refusing to pursue the case due to the time that has elapsed. Having previously suggested that he was awaiting the outcome of the criminal case before dealing with RMT's complaint, the Information Commissioner appears now to be saying now that it is now too late to take action. This is being clarified as it seems to be a complete U-turn. RMT will pursue this matter and will not hesitate to issue a legal challenge if necessary to secure justice in this case. THAT’S SPOOKY! E arlier this month, general secretary Bob Crow received a phone call from his daughter on his mobile. Bob asked where she was phoning from, as an unfamiliar number came up on his phone. He was very surprised to be told she was at home. He retrieved the mysterious number, 020 7998 3100, and rang it to find a voice that asked him for a pin number. The telephone company first claimed there was a fault at the exchange, then that there was a fault on the line. Bob said that he had also asked whose number it was, only to be refused. “Someone probably wanted to listen in on the details of disputes or the G8 demo, who knows,” Bob said. Bob also pointed out that even to this day all investigations into the vicious attack on him during his election campaign in January 2002 had drawn a blank. However, at the time, a Scotland Yard spokesman said that the attack was “obviously not just random”. The Times THEY ARE A-CHANGING