RoyBatty
07-10-2010, 02:14 PM
...............backfired on them. It's a pity that SA didn't impose more severe penalties on their "journalist" orchestrating this particular caper.
A British journalist is being held over the England World Cup dressing room intrusion, South African police say.
National police commissioner Bheki Cele said the Sunday Mirror's Simon Wright had been arrested.
The Sunday Mirror confirmed Mr Wright had been arrested but said any suggestion by police that the trespass was orchestrated was "entirely false".
Pavlos Joseph, 32, from London, is accused of entering England's dressing room after the Algeria match.
His case has been adjourned until 30 June.
Mortgage adviser Mr Joseph was discovered in the England team's dressing room in Cape Town's Green Point stadium on 18 June.
'Legitimate story'
He claims he chanced upon the team while looking for a toilet, but the fan exchanged words about England's performance with former captain David Beckham before he was escorted out of the room.
Mr Cele said Mr Wright had been arrested for "defeating the ends of justice and flouting the provisions of the Immigration Act".
He said CCTV footage had given police "reason to believe the incident was orchestrated".
"The police strongly believe the motive was to put the World Cup security in a bad light, and possibly to profit from this act.
"Mr Wright has admitted to harbouring and interviewing Mr Pavlos Joseph at a time when the police were searching for the latter in order to effect an arrest.
"The second criminal charge against Mr Wright relates to his alleged conduct in booking luxury hotel accommodation for Mr Joseph using false or incorrect particulars," he said.
Security revised
Brigadier Sally de Beer of the South African Police Service said: "Simon Wright, 44, was arrested on [Monday] morning at 8.25am at Cape Town international airport.
"He appeared in a World Cup court in Cape Town [on Monday] night at 11pm.
"He was granted 3,000 rand bail and will appear again on [Wednesday] morning."
But a Trinity Mirror spokesman said Mr Wright "was engaged in a legitimate story for his newspaper".
"Any suggestion that he or the newspaper was involved with Pavlos Joseph before he entered the England dressing room is entirely false," he said.
Mr Joseph appeared at a World Cup court in Cape Town on Friday, but a solicitor requested an adjournment while the defence awaited CCTV footage from inside the stadium.
Since the incident, South African police have revised security procedures at all stadiums.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10444202.stm
Charges against a Sunday Mirror journalist arrested after a fan got into England's World Cup dressing room have been dropped.
Simon Wright was accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice and fraud, but those were withdrawn.
Mr Wright paid a 750 rand (£65) admission of guilt fine for an immigration offence, his lawyer said.
Fan Pavlos Joseph, 32, from London, paid a £65 fine last week. As a result, all charges against him were dropped.
After the charges against Mr Wright were dropped his lawyer, William Booth, said: "He is relieved it's over. He has been through absolute hell and his family want him back home.
"They have been through an emotional rollercoaster."
The lawyer said the charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice was "removed from the court roll" after prosecuting authorities agreed there was no evidence.
He added that his client paid an admission of guilt fine concerning his request to put a different name in the Bay Hotel's register, despite giving staff the correct details.
Continue reading the main story
The prosecution have accepted that he did not try to hide England fan Pavlos Joseph from the police at any time
Trinity Mirror
On Wednesday Mr Booth told South Africa's special World Cup court in Cape Town that he wanted to record publicly that there was no charge of conspiracy or collusion between his client and Mr Joseph.
Speaking outside court, he said the two men met as a result of a telephone call made to the Sunday Mirror by Mr Joseph's sister and did not believe there was any basis for continuing with the charges.
Meanwhile, a Trinity Mirror spokesman said the company was "delighted" that the charges against the journalist had been dropped.
In a statement it said: "The prosecution have accepted that he did not try to hide England fan Pavlos Joseph from the police at any time and he did not conceal his own identity from the Bay Hotel in Cape Town. All he was doing was protecting his exclusive interview.
'Shocked' players
"Most importantly the prosecution have finally conceded on the record that there was and has never been any suggestion that Simon colluded with Pavlos Joseph to enter the England dressing room after the game against Algeria."
Mortgage adviser Mr Joseph was discovered in the England team's dressing room in Cape Town's Green Point stadium on 18 June, following England's 0-0 draw with Algeria.
He claims he chanced upon the team while looking for a toilet, but the fan exchanged words about England's performance with former captain David Beckham before he was escorted out.
Mr Joseph told BBC Breakfast on Thursday that he had spoken calmly, but said: "I've spent a lot of money getting out here, that was a disgrace, what are you going to do about it?"
Nobody said anything, but the players looked "shocked", he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10586423.stm
Even though the prosecution dropped the charges it's obvious that the "fan break-in" story was a setup orchestrated by the Mirror.
A British journalist is being held over the England World Cup dressing room intrusion, South African police say.
National police commissioner Bheki Cele said the Sunday Mirror's Simon Wright had been arrested.
The Sunday Mirror confirmed Mr Wright had been arrested but said any suggestion by police that the trespass was orchestrated was "entirely false".
Pavlos Joseph, 32, from London, is accused of entering England's dressing room after the Algeria match.
His case has been adjourned until 30 June.
Mortgage adviser Mr Joseph was discovered in the England team's dressing room in Cape Town's Green Point stadium on 18 June.
'Legitimate story'
He claims he chanced upon the team while looking for a toilet, but the fan exchanged words about England's performance with former captain David Beckham before he was escorted out of the room.
Mr Cele said Mr Wright had been arrested for "defeating the ends of justice and flouting the provisions of the Immigration Act".
He said CCTV footage had given police "reason to believe the incident was orchestrated".
"The police strongly believe the motive was to put the World Cup security in a bad light, and possibly to profit from this act.
"Mr Wright has admitted to harbouring and interviewing Mr Pavlos Joseph at a time when the police were searching for the latter in order to effect an arrest.
"The second criminal charge against Mr Wright relates to his alleged conduct in booking luxury hotel accommodation for Mr Joseph using false or incorrect particulars," he said.
Security revised
Brigadier Sally de Beer of the South African Police Service said: "Simon Wright, 44, was arrested on [Monday] morning at 8.25am at Cape Town international airport.
"He appeared in a World Cup court in Cape Town [on Monday] night at 11pm.
"He was granted 3,000 rand bail and will appear again on [Wednesday] morning."
But a Trinity Mirror spokesman said Mr Wright "was engaged in a legitimate story for his newspaper".
"Any suggestion that he or the newspaper was involved with Pavlos Joseph before he entered the England dressing room is entirely false," he said.
Mr Joseph appeared at a World Cup court in Cape Town on Friday, but a solicitor requested an adjournment while the defence awaited CCTV footage from inside the stadium.
Since the incident, South African police have revised security procedures at all stadiums.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10444202.stm
Charges against a Sunday Mirror journalist arrested after a fan got into England's World Cup dressing room have been dropped.
Simon Wright was accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice and fraud, but those were withdrawn.
Mr Wright paid a 750 rand (£65) admission of guilt fine for an immigration offence, his lawyer said.
Fan Pavlos Joseph, 32, from London, paid a £65 fine last week. As a result, all charges against him were dropped.
After the charges against Mr Wright were dropped his lawyer, William Booth, said: "He is relieved it's over. He has been through absolute hell and his family want him back home.
"They have been through an emotional rollercoaster."
The lawyer said the charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice was "removed from the court roll" after prosecuting authorities agreed there was no evidence.
He added that his client paid an admission of guilt fine concerning his request to put a different name in the Bay Hotel's register, despite giving staff the correct details.
Continue reading the main story
The prosecution have accepted that he did not try to hide England fan Pavlos Joseph from the police at any time
Trinity Mirror
On Wednesday Mr Booth told South Africa's special World Cup court in Cape Town that he wanted to record publicly that there was no charge of conspiracy or collusion between his client and Mr Joseph.
Speaking outside court, he said the two men met as a result of a telephone call made to the Sunday Mirror by Mr Joseph's sister and did not believe there was any basis for continuing with the charges.
Meanwhile, a Trinity Mirror spokesman said the company was "delighted" that the charges against the journalist had been dropped.
In a statement it said: "The prosecution have accepted that he did not try to hide England fan Pavlos Joseph from the police at any time and he did not conceal his own identity from the Bay Hotel in Cape Town. All he was doing was protecting his exclusive interview.
'Shocked' players
"Most importantly the prosecution have finally conceded on the record that there was and has never been any suggestion that Simon colluded with Pavlos Joseph to enter the England dressing room after the game against Algeria."
Mortgage adviser Mr Joseph was discovered in the England team's dressing room in Cape Town's Green Point stadium on 18 June, following England's 0-0 draw with Algeria.
He claims he chanced upon the team while looking for a toilet, but the fan exchanged words about England's performance with former captain David Beckham before he was escorted out.
Mr Joseph told BBC Breakfast on Thursday that he had spoken calmly, but said: "I've spent a lot of money getting out here, that was a disgrace, what are you going to do about it?"
Nobody said anything, but the players looked "shocked", he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10586423.stm
Even though the prosecution dropped the charges it's obvious that the "fan break-in" story was a setup orchestrated by the Mirror.