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- MediaGuardian,
- Friday October 3 2003
Lawyers have warned the tabloid press that they are walking a legal tightrope after three newspapers today decided to name the club of one of the footballers involved in an alleged gang rape last weekend.
Newspapers have continued to report the allegations in detail despite a warning earlier this week from the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, that he was "very concerned" that evidence could be distorted by potentially prejudicial reporting.
The Sun and the Daily Star decided to go ahead and name the club of a player who is alleged to have had consensual sex with a 17-year-old woman before the alleged rape took place.
The London Evening Standard followed the lead of the two redtops by also publishing the name of the club concerned.
The remaining seven players said to be involved, the names of which are widely known in media and football circles, have still not been published, nor has the club for which several of them play.
News International insiders said today that the editor of the Sun, Rebekah Wade, was keen to move the story on before the weekend, with the Sunday tabloids expected to publish fresh revelations, and had taken the decision following a series of meetings with lawyers.
She is understood to be particularly keen to "retain ownership" of the story as the Sun was the first paper to break the story on Monday.
Legal experts explained today that the newspapers would probably get away with publishing the name of the club of one of the players involved because it could be any player from a reasonably large group, and he is not directly accused of participating in the rape.
However, if they were to name the other club involved, for which up to seven of the other players involved are believed to play, it would lead to the "strong possibility" of a flurry of libel actions from other players in the squad who were not involved.
"The fact you identify one of the clubs would not particularly prejudice any trial," said Martin Cruddace, a leading media lawyer and former in-house legal adviser for Mirror Group Newspapers. "The libel side is what is probably holding them back. You would have the whole first team squad claiming damages," he said.
The game of legal cat and mouse is likely to continue, with the representative of one player linked to the story already threatening to sue newspapers, websites and even individuals who have named the footballer in emails.
And the representative of one player said to be involved in the rape has made an official complaint to the attorney general after the Daily Sport on Tuesday named another club said to be involved.
A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said it "remained concerned" about the high volume of media reports, despite Lord Goldmsmith's warning.
Some lawyers believe that the amount and detail of coverage of the alleged incident will be enough to prejudice any trial if the players are eventually charged and named and that much could depend on how long it takes for police to make any possible arrests.
The longer it takes, the more likely it is that potential jurors will have forgotten the detail of the initial reports, they believe.
The controversial allegations will also affect radio and television broadcasters covering football matches over the weekend, after they were warned to take "all reasonable steps" to avoid chants about the players alleged to be involved being broadcast.
· To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 7239 9857
