Archer case packs them in

Press, 16 July 1987, Page 10

Archer case packs them in

NZPA staff correspondent London Tourists bored with the usual London sights have resorted to disguising themselves as reporters in the fight for seats at the Jeffrey Archer libel case. The story of the millionaire author and the prostitute has entered its seventh day in court. With the prostitute Miss Monica Coghlan again giving evidence yesterday, the demand for seats was high. “After ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and ‘Les Miserables,’ the Jeffrey Archer case playing at the High Court ... must be the hottest property in town,” the “Daily Express" said yesterday. “So pure was the theatre yesterday that some fans to be sure of a seat carried notebooks and pretended to be reporters,” the newspaper said. -yh

Spectators in Court 13 yesterday were not disappointed if it was drama they were seeking: Miss Monica Coghlan, aged 36, the woman the “Star” newspaper said was paid £7O ($189) by Mr Archer for sex, wept almost throughout her time in the stand. “I would never have dreamed of approaching him (Mr Archer) — not with the money and power that he has got,” she said, sobbing, when Archer’s counsel, Mr Robert Alexander Q.C., suggested she was motivated by money to sell her story to the newspapers. Earlier this week Miss Coghlan admitted she had been paid £6OOO ($16,200) by the “News of the World” for her story. Mr Archer, who is 47, a best-selling novelist and former Conservative Party deputy chairman, is claiming damages against

the “Star” newspaper for its articles alleging he had sex with Miss Coghlan, whom he claims he has never met. He said he was “set up” by another newspaper, the “News of the World,” when he paid the woman £2OOO ($5400) to keep ' quiet. Mgp Coghlan conceded

earlier that the article in the “Star” at the centre of the case was almost entirely “fantasy.” But, she added, the “one piece of truth” in the story was that she went to bed with Mr Archer. Yesterday Miss Coghlan repeatedly broke down in tears, blew her nose and mopped her eyes as she was questioned about her lifestyle by Mr Alexander. She said she became a prostitute when she was 18, after being sexually attacked when she was younger. She agreed it would not be an exaggeration to say she had slept with “many thousands of men.” She also agreed she had earned "hundreds of thousands of pounds” over the years, but had not saved much. When Mr Alexander suggested she approached the “News of the World” herself with the story about Mr

Coghlan shouted back: "You have accused me of doing this for money. Before this happened I had a few thousand pounds, but I haven’t got a penny now.” Mr Alexander asked why she had signed an affidavit for “News of the World” reporters, who she has said approached her to ask for her story. Miss Coghlan replied she did it for her own protection. “I knew my word as a prostitute wouldn’t stand up against his.” The “Evening Standard” predicted yesterday that the only winners in this particular court case would be the lawyers. "Whichever way you look at it, Mr Archer behaved foolishly and Coghlan despicably,” the newspaper said. “Isn’t the real case one against ourselves for buying and reading newspapers that dish up such dirt?"