Sometimes you should believe what you read in the papers, says Geoffrey Bindman
In 1987 I played a peripheral part in what the trial judge, Mr Justice Caulfield, described as “the libel case of the century”: Jeffrey Archer against the Daily Star. I was consulted by the man who first told the story which Archer challenged, Aziz Kurtha. After a night out in the West End Kurtha had picked up a prostitute in Shepherd Market known as Debbie and later met her at a hotel in Pimlico. As he left the hotel he saw Archer arriving for an assignation with the same woman. Archer was at the time deputy chairman of the Conservative party, which claimed to uphold family values. Kurtha thought Archer’s nocturnal activities might make a good story for Private Eye. To confirm his identification he made a note in his diary of the number of the car in which Archer drew up outside the hotel.
Read all about it
The Private Eye journalist whom Kurtha contacted passed on the story to the tabloids and versions of it appeared in both the News of the World and the Daily Star.
Debbie was tracked down by the former paper and induced to telephone Archer in the hope that their taped conversation would provide unequivocal confirmation of their past dealings. Archer was wary and avoided any clear admission, but encouraged her to go abroad and surprisingly he offered her money to pay for the trip. Archer’s assistant would hand her £2000 in cash at Victoria station at an agreed time. Needless to say, the transaction was secretly filmed by the newspaper. It convinced them that it was safe to publish the story.
Nevertheless, when the story hit the headlines, Archer denied that he had ever met Debbie. He issued proceedings. He was represented by the formidable six and a half feet tall Bob Alexander QC.
No mercy
The defence witnesses Kurtha and Debbie were mercilessly cross-examined and forced by Alexander into inconsistencies and equivocations. The most telling evidence for the defence was given by the Observer journalist Adam Raphael, appearing under subpoena to explain an article he had published soon after the story first broke. Though his article did not identify Archer himself as the source, he testified in court that Archer himself had told him that he had met Debbie “once very casually, six months ago”. This contradicted Archer’s denial. If it was true, in what circumstances could he possibly have met her? The judge made it very clear that he was not impressed by Raphael’s evidence.
Half-baked idea
The defence was severely bruised by the time the plaintiff’s turn came. His agent, Ted Baker, gave him an alibi: they had been having dinner at the Caprice restaurant and Archer had given him a lift home to South London at about 1.15 am, long after Kurtha claimed to have seen him in Pimlico. Archer’s wife Mary proved his strongest witness. She disputed Raphael’s allegation, claiming that she was standing by the telephone and overheard the whole conversation. She captivated the judge, whose ecstatic tribute remains among the most memorable judicial utterances of all time: “Remember Mrs Archer in the witness box. Your vision of her probably will never disappear. Has she elegance? Has she fragrance?” Living with her, how could Archer ever be “in need of cold, unloving, rubber-insulated sex in a seedy hotel.”
The judge’s summing up was so highly favourable to Archer that it took the jury only 4 hours to digest the content of a three week trial and reach a verdict in his favour. More surprising was their award of £500,000 damages, the largest sum ever awarded in a libel case. And Archer picked up another £50,000 from the News of the World, together with his legal costs.
Unconvincing
I was far from convinced that the verdict was correct. I found it impossible to believe that Aziz Kurtha and the other defence witnesses were untruthful or mistaken.
Archer’s career continued to flourish. He was elevated to the House of Lords and nominated by the Conservatives to fight the election for Mayor of London. It was not until 14 years after the libel action that my confidence in my client and the other witnesses was vindicated.
Keep your enemies close…
Archer fell out with Ted Francis and it emerged that their dinner at the Caprice took place on a different date. Archer’s former secretary revealed that Archer had asked her to alter his diary so as to confirm the now discredited alibi. Archer was prosecuted and convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice. In his last case before his retirement, my old school friend Mr Justice Potts had the satisfaction of sentencing him to four years imprisonment, in addition to which Archer had to repay all the damages and costs he had received from the newspapers with interest.
The arrogance or insensitivity which led Archer to launch a libel action against the might of Fleet Street on the basis of a falsehood is hard to understand but he nearly got away with it. He must have thought his elaborate deception was the only way to escape the humiliation and disastrous damage to his career which the revelation of his escapade threatened. Or perhaps he deceived himself into believing that it really had not had happened at all.
Archer was not of course alone. Jonathan Aitken, coincidentally also a Tory politician, nearly defeated the Guardian in another false claim. When much is at stake litigants can be driven to desperate measures. If it were not so, litigation would be less frequent and certainly less colourful.
