‘Eye’ in fight for life against tycoon

Press, 7 August 1976, Page 6

‘Eye’ in fight for life against tycoon

By LESLIE DOWD, NZPAReuter correspondent. London “Private Eye,” an irreverent British satire magazine which delights in living dangerously, is locked in deadly battle with a tycoon who is reaching for its jugular with a rare charge of criminal libel. A jury at the Old Bailey, the London Central Criminal Court, will hear in a few months time what promises to be one of the most momentous legal cases of recent years, centering on Britain’s controversial libel laws, often said to be the toughest in the world. The plaintiff, in a private prosecution, is Sir James Goldsmith, a millionaire financier as colourful as the magazine he is suing. The crisis for “Private Eye” stems from a report about the baffling affair of Lord Lucan, a gambling aristocrat sought for the murder of his children’s nursemaid on November 8, 1974 — a night on which the earl’s wife was also savagely attacked. Despite numerous reports of sightings of the missing earl around the world, Scotland Yard has yet to establish whether he is alive or dead. Sir James claims he was libelled last December 12 in an article which “Private Eye” has since admitted was in Th e article sug-

gested that Sir James (then plain Mr) was the richest and most powerful member of what is called the Lucan Circle, and that during a restaurant luncheon he had helped persuade Lucan’s friends to hinder police inquiries. Sir James denied the suggestions and issued more than 90 writs for libel against "Private Eye" and people associated with the magazine. He also brought an action for criminal libel against its editor and founder, 38-year-old Richard Ingrams. The magazine has apologised and admitted it was mistaken in reporting that Sir James attended the luncheon at which the alleged conspiracy was discussed. Attempts at reaching an out-of-court settlement failed. Mr Ingrams faces up to two years in gaol if convicted at the Old Bailey trial, expected to take place early next year at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds. Criminal libel differs from the common form of civil libel by making the defendant criminally responsible for his actions. A case can only be brought under the 88-year-old statute if a judge is satisfied that the alleged libel could provoke a breach of the peace and that the action would be in the public interest. “Private Eye" is used to being in the law courts, it

has paid an estimated £150,000 to a succession, of well known claimants, including the late Randolph Churchill, son of Sir Winston Churchill. Mr Ingrams and the magazine’s other owners have always managed to meet settlements and legal costs, often through public appeals. The magazine’s survival, despite the stringent libel laws, is much admired in the sophisticated London circles for whom “Private Eye" (circulation 80,000) is required reading. “Private Eye ’ has launched a fund which now stands at over £20,000 to help meet its legal costs in the current action, and plans starstudded fund-raising shows to get more money. Mr Ingrams has promised that the case will be “fully contested” at the Old Bailey. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Mr Kenneth Barraclough), after a two-day preliminary hearing at Bow Street court last week, decided that there was a case to answer. The magazine’s publishers and distributors, as well as its editor, were committed for trial at the Old Bailey. Sir James, the only witness at last week’s hearing, said in explaining why he chose to bring an action for criminal libel: “I occupy a position of public prominence and trust, being responsible for managing the investments of more than 300,000 people. “Private Eye’ has mounted a cam-

paign to undermine that position.” Sir James, now aged 43, tall, balding, and stooped, has often been in the headlines. He first became news at the age of 21 in 1954 when he eloped with Isobel Patino, a Brazilian heiress. She died in childbirth shortly after their marriage. He is the Eton-educated son of a former Conservative member of Parliament and a French mother, and is known as a tough man who likes gambling and winning. His extensive business interests are controlled from London and Paris. In 1964, he established the Cavenham Group, now one of the biggest food retailing businesses in Europe. Last October he stepped in as chairman and chief executive of troubled Slater Walker securities when his friend. Jim Slater, abruptly resigned. In May he was knighted in Sir Harold Wilson’s resignation honours list for services to exports. In contrast with Sir James’s formidable financial resources, “Private Eye” runs on a shoestring from Soho, in central London. The magazine comes out every two weeks, always with a cover photograph of a prominent figure, such as the Queen, a politician, or a foreign leader, made ridiculous through the addition of a bubble quote. The rest is cartoons, lampooning gossip, and a few i pages of alleged revelations ( of behind-the-scenes doings 4- •

in business, politics, and show business. The “Eye” has occasionally had scoops of national importance. These included uncovering of local government corruption and secret chemical warfare research. Much of “Private Eye’s” gossip is culled from the dinner tables of Hampstead, Chelsea, and other fashionable London districts favoured by the capital’s wits, artists, political intriguers, and journalists. The incestuous community of Fleet Street, home of the national press, is a fruitful source of tip-offs. Journalists, who are frequently reviled in the “Eye” as the “hacks of the street of shame,” are among the magazine’s best sources and most avid readers, delighting in the raw items their own newspapers rarely dare to print. “Private Eye” has undoubtedly helped to change British attitudes to authority, in particular the old rather smug self-image of incorruptibility. Since the “Eye” began prying into dark comers — and no doubt spurred by the example of the American press’s Watergate successes — the British press has taken on a new boldness. Some of the “Eye’s” characters have entered into the national vocabulary and culture. There is Lunchtime O’Booze. the drunken Fleet Street hack, and inevitably the grasping, Dickensian libel law firm of Sue, Grabbit, and Runne.

The “Eye’s” own mythical tycoon proprietor. Lord Gnome, sends in his canting self-seeking editorials from a series of lush watering places where he is invariably accompanied by his lovely secretary. Miss Rita Chevrolet. Typical of the “Eye’s” rollicking war with the Establishment was its recent competition to find which of its readers could get the best phoney letter printed in "The Times”. Nobody escapes the magazine’s fire. The Queen is “Brenda” and the Duke of Edinburgh is called “Phil the Greek.” The “Eye” dubbed former Prime Minister. Mr Edward Heath, “the grocer.” a sobriquet which stuck. Sir Harold Wilson, a favourite target, is known to detest the magazine. “Private Eye” has no political position, seeking only to deflate and debunk. Opponents have accused it of irresponsibility, male chauvinism, even anti-semitism. Its distaste for dogma and hypocrisy is flavoured by a traditional English individualism and enlivened by an undergraduate nose for a prank. Mr Ingrams went to an ancient fee-paying school for the upper classes and to Oxford University. He lives in lan oak-beamed country house where he plays cricket on the village green — an unlikely figure to frighten the Establishment.