A Serial Offender?

Here is a report about my local angling correspondent Roy Webster, he is responsible for stirring the sh** about an "incident" regarding the organisers and a pegging "indiscretion" on the Yare over 4 years ago, this has resulted in me losing my sponsorship and being banned from fishing matches on the Yare, I personally met and cleared the air with the match organisers, and the ban has been lifted as a result of honest and frank discussions, Mr Webster seems reluctant to publish this FACT in the local papers, although he is more than happy to "embellish" his scribblings with fiction and pure invention, I found this last night, and I think illustrates perfectly the caliber of the man ; http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/news/2004/12dec/041214roy.shtml

It seems this "Journalist" has a history of making up "Quotes" and adding "personal comments" to his articles resulting in sponsors pulling out.There is an article in this weeks A.T too, it seems Mr Webster has upset the P.A.C with his wild , inaccurate, and fictitious ramblings regarding live/dead baiting in the UK and "death trap" rigs, Keith has also commented on his opinion page, all in all, Mr Webster seems to be a very poor example of a proper Journalist, the question is, how much harm is he doing the sport of angling?

Bob,
If i was you I'd contact the paper and demand an apology if he has written anything that isn't true.
If he has written anything that could be construed as an attack on your character that he can't back up with evidence then you could have a defamation of character case, but getting lawyers involved is expensive and can take years, an apology would be the best option.

Thanks for your advice Gary, I am working on things, for too long now anglers, including myself, and it seemshis local football team,have been unfairly victimised by this "Journalist" just for the sake of a story.............any story, the man crawls this Earth on his belly IMO.

mmmm I take it your a bit miffed then Bob.

I liked the bit in the report that said

Evening News editor David Bourn said: "On a purely human level, to force a 71-year-old man to work on the top of a ladder for hours on end in the freezing cold is as cruel as it is ridiculous.

He is a journo and he works for you Mr Editor so it is you who is forcing him up a ladder in order to earn an honest crust.

Unfortunately Bob there are people in this world who can twist words and get what they want from gullible people who will listen.

I wish you well in your campaign to clear your name

Trev, my name has been cleared, the unjustban on me for speaking the truth has been lifted, I have spoken to the 2 match organisers man to man and they have emphatically denied most of the "quotes" attributed to them in the EDP,Evening news and my local Yarmouth Mercury, together ,I and the 2 match organisers have tried to issue a joint statement below;

"Allegations against match organisers on the river Yare

There has been considerable speculation and discussion both on the bank and
in the local press regarding an allegation made against the two match
organisers on the river Yare over the past two weeks. This surrounded an old dispute
between match organisers Keith Ford and Andy Sutter and local angler Bob
Bradford following an incident during a match about four years ago.

Both parties have now met and openly discussed the issue, they feel that the
situation was escalated and badly misrepresented by the local media and some
mischievous individuals. Regarding the particular incident, both parties
made their points and have agreed to differ on the subject, however, the ban
imposed on Bob Bradford has been lifted, and Bob, Keith and Andy agree that
this is now the end of the matter, and will not be commenting on the subject
further."

To date the EDP have not printed it, THAT is what I am "miffed " about, that and the way Roy Webster has gone about his business.

I would imagine that the paper for whom he works would be very careful not to print anything he says that could be construed as libel, and no doubt anything written by him will have been vetted by some clever clogs lawyer, or not, perhaps! If he has libelled you, it might be worth running the article past a Solicitor. I would have thought that it would not take a lawyer more than half an hour to consider it and advise you. On the other hand, it may be too late in your case, since the incident relates to an occurance that took place 4 years ago, and I do not know what the Statute of Limitations is in relation to such matters, it could be 3 years, but itmight be 6 years.

Another suggestion is that you might bring his activities to the attention of the Press Association. I don't know if this sort of thing is within their domain, but it might be.

You could also go to Press Complaints. They could order the paper to run a clarification/retraction, but not sure how the lapsed four years will affect things with regards to this.

I really would avoid solicitors if i was you, unless you have money to burn, often the only people who win in these cases are the lawyers who make a fortune when they drag on for years.
On the other hand a solicitors letter might just spur the paper into action, but that is as far as I'd take it due to the cost.
This is usually why you only see celebrities suing newspapers for libel.
The newspaper would be liable for what is printed as they are the ones who have spread it to the widest audience, plus they have more money than their columnist (or so I'd assume) so they are the ones you'd bring a case against. It may be his opinion but they printed it.

Hope this helps, it all gets very complicated if the courses I've done on this at work are anything to go by.

Gary, the "incident " regarding the pegging irregularity by the organisers was 4 years ago, the articles by Webster (the journalist) were in the past few weeks! based on a couple of remarks I made on another forum.

I have today spoken to the EDPs sports editor and sent him in e-mail form ,the joint statement from myself and the 2 organisers, I am led to believe it will be published, as there are some important facts I want known in it's contents,and hopefully that will be that! unless of course Webster decides to have another "pop" at me.

Bob,
Hope you get it all sorted out amicably. I would imagine that Webster's editor will be having words with him and will be looking closely for anything that could further inflame the situation.

Gary

I would hope so Gary, that is my main objective.....that, and to expose this odious,little "Journalist".