Anonymity (Arrested Persons) Bill

Debate between Gareth Johnson and Anna Soubry

Friday 4th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Anna Soubry]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. I started by saying that I think we all agree that we have gone too far and that a great wrong needs to be righted. As I said from the outset, I am more interested in correcting that wrong by whatever device is best able to do that, rather than simply commending the Bill all the way through and urging Members to vote for it. Of course I want it to succeed, but my real aim is to ensure that what happened to the man in Bristol never happens again. I do not much mind by what device that is done. The Bill could perhaps be changed in Committee if we find that a presumption of publication with exceptions is the better way to do it, but my reservation is that by the time the name has been published and salacious details have been put into the press, there is not much time to go to a court to have that stopped. I want to stop it happening in the first place.

[Gareth Johnson (Dartford) (Con)]

There is a great deal of merit in the general thrust of my hon. Friend’s Bill, which is to protect people who have been arrested, but would not a better approach be to equalise the sub judice rules that apply post charge, which generally seem to work, with those that apply pre charge, so that individuals can be named, but without the sensationalist reporting that concerns her most of all?

[Anna Soubry]

I am again grateful, because that is a good point well made. There is a good argument that the way to cure this mischief is by amending the Contempt of Court Act 1981. I will in due course deal with why that Act is inadequate. If it were adequate, I have no doubt that the Attorney-General would have used it to stop the salacious and vilifying nature of the coverage of the man arrested in Bristol.

To return to why it is wrong for someone to be named and vilified after being arrested, we should also consider the distress caused to that person, which I touched on earlier. During the course of my research, I looked at the case of a much-loved television personality—I will not name him—who appealed to people of all ages and was a true family entertainer. I did not know, because it does not matter to me, that he is gay. He had been married and had children, but the reality is that he was a homosexual. In due course he came out, which was a matter for his private life, and got on with his life. Most importantly, he continued to be an extremely good television presenter and entertainer. One evening, he was arrested as he came off stage following an allegation of a misdemeanour some years earlier. As a result, his name and the details of the allegation were published.

What followed was not quite a media feeding frenzy, but the details of the man’s private life, his sexuality and such matters were written about extensively in the press. A few weeks later, when he returned to the police station, the police said that they would not be charging him and he was accordingly exonerated of the allegation. He always maintained his dignity, and issued a statement through his solicitor which said:

“I was always confident my name would be cleared in due course. However, it’s been a very anxious and upsetting time for me and my family, not least because of press coverage at the time of my arrest.”

I quote that statement because it is important to remember that we are talking about real people who somehow have to pick up the pieces of their lives. Knowing what has been published about the first man who was arrested in Bristol, we must ask how on earth he will pick up his life after what has been said and written about him.