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| Dealer crushed stolen instruments A scrap metal dealer who paid thieves £61 for £15,000 worth of stolen musical instruments is found guilty of handling stolen goods. bbc.co.uk |
Beware the first rough draft of history | Duncan Campbell Coverage of Linda Norgrove's death reminds us the first official reports of a major incident can be inaccurate and self-servingLinda Norgrove was "killed by her captors", "executed by the Taliban" and died after one of her kidnappers "detonated a suicide vest" when her rescuers were "within seconds" of saving her life. That certainly was what the world learned when the news first broke at the weekend of the attempt by US special forces to rescue the Scottish aid worker held hostage in Afghanistan. Now, however, a different version of how she died is emerging, with the suggestion that she may have been accidentally killed by a grenade thrown by her American rescuers.This does not necessarily alter the initial claim made by the foreign secretary, William Hague, that the ultimate responsibility for her death lies with her captors, but it does remind us that the first official reports of a major incident may well be inaccurate and self-serving. One only has to think back to the initial coverage of the deaths of Jean Charles de Menezes in Stockwell in 2005 and Ian Tomlinson at the G20 demonstration last year to be reminded that news – that "first rough draft of history" – can sometimes be very rough indeed.In 1996, there was an explosion on a 171 bus at the Aldwych in London. It was at a time when the IRA were still active and there seemed little doubt as to whose bomb it was. There were two young Irishmen on the bus. One, Ed O'Brien, an IRA man, was killed. The other, Brendan Woolhead, survived, although with serious head and pelvic injuries. At the press conference at Scotland Yard, it became clear that Woolhead – not named at this stage – was under police guard in hospital. He had, we heard, attempted to run away despite his serious injuries and had given a false identity. The IRA usually worked in pairs so it seemed logical that this Irishman, now with an armed guard at his hospital bedside, was part of an IRA active service unit that had been the victim of an "own goal". I was the Guardian's crime correspondent at the time and attended the police briefing and certainly that was the consensus that emerged – a consensus reflected in almost all of the next day's press coverage about the "injured Provo" in hospital and the "accomplice" under guard.But the assumptions were wrong. Woolhead was not a bomber but a heroin addict who thus had a good reason not to divulge his true identity. When he had recovered from his injuries, he sued most of the British press for libel. Some papers settled almost immediately and he received a reported £200,000 in damages. Using some of this money, Woolhead underwent a radical opiate detoxification process in a London hospital and died of cardiac arrest during it. (His action against the Guardian, which the paper was defending, thus never came to court.)Inevitably, when someone dies in controversial circumstances and the closest witnesses are official – whether police or armed forces – there can be a tendency, conscious or unconscious, to put a gloss on events. We live in a time when there has never been greater pressure on reporters to provide instant information. File now, check later. Rumour has always made its way twice round the world before truth has got its boots on but now rumour has the internet as its speedy and credulous messenger.Sometimes the official version will go unchecked for ever but that, too – the other side of the internet coin – is becoming increasingly unlikely. It was only through the chance filming of the circumstances leading up to Ian Tomlinson's death that the official version could be convincingly challenged.There is, inevitably, a symbiotic relationship between the media and the authorities in difficult circumstances like the attempted rescue of Norgrove or the shooting of De Menezes and it is easy to see how a fairly credible version of events might be accepted and promulgated. Also easy to stand on the sidelines a few days later and pass judgement in what former foreign secretary, Jack Straw, calls the "languid luxury of hindsight".For journalists, readers and viewers alike, the old maxim must hold good: never assume.Linda NorgroveTalibanIRAIan TomlinsonAfghanistanDuncan Campbellguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Newspaper review Titles reflect on aircraft carriers 'fiasco' bbc.co.uk |
Fire strike set for Bonfire Night London firefighters are to walk out on one of their busiest periods as a row over new contracts escalates, their union says. bbc.co.uk |
Winter fuel costs: How to lower your bills Last year's cold snap hit consumers' wallets hard. Prepare yourself this time around by finding the cheapest energy suppliersChristine Oliver guardian.co.uk |