UK Counter-Terrorism (merged thread)

[Majormarginal]

This should be good for sales when the book does come out. Could your courts silence him under libel laws or security procedures? This will be impossible now that some copies are out.

MajorMarginal,

In a very odd way this case has fallen out of view, even Andy hayman's own website: http://andyhayman.com/index.html has little to say about what has happened to the injunction. Previously the website referred to a court hearing last Friday, earlier his week it reported the case had disappeared from the listing. Today's update suggests Scottish politicians (not Labour, but Scottish Nationalists) are upset at his comments.

As befits a modern society some of his books were sold publically, aside from numerous review copies in circulation.

Puzzling start to a legal case.

davidbfpo

[Majormarginal]

Why are the Scottish nationalists upset?

[davidbfpo]

Why are the Scottish nationalists upset?

In The Terrorist Hunters, Mr Hayman claims politicians are guilty of “hissy fits” and “some amazing playground antics”. He told The Times: “Mr Salmond is no different.”

A spokesman for the First Minister denied the claims, saying that neither Mr Salmond nor Mr MacAskill had any contact or dealings with Mr Hayman and were not involved in any of the judicial proceedings.

He added: “The Scottish government is fully committed to the fight against terrorism and will work with jurisdictions, south of the Border and elsewhere, to ensure the safety and security of ordinary citizens and the prosecution of the perpetrators of terrorist acts wherever they may be.”

John Neilson, the Assistant Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police, who headed the investigation into the attack, denied that politicians had influenced the inquiry. “I don't know of any political interference that impacted on the investigation,” he said.

A spokesman for the Crown Office also dismissed Mr Hayman's version of events, saying: “This bears absolutely no resemblance to events in Scotland that weekend.

“The Lord Advocate and her team worked tirelessly with the support of the Scottish ministers over the course of the weekend on June 29 and 30 to ensure that the complex legal issue of jurisdiction was considered quickly but authoritatively.”

These Scottish comments appear to have come after the injunction and Andy Hayman's views were published in The Times excerpts.

davidbfpo

[Ken White]

Can't tolerate any sassenach finger pointing...

[davidbfpo]

The injunction against the UK publication and sale of the book have recently been lifted, with almost no additional reporting and I only learnt talking to the co-author last week. The publishers now have to think whether to repeat the publicity.

Andy Hayman's website has a short comment: http://andyhayman.com/book.html

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

This should be good for sales when the book does come out. Could your courts silence him under libel laws or security procedures? This will be impossible now that some copies are out.

Better sales potential is expected, dependent on how long it takes the civil case to be resolved. I'm not a lawyer, libel laws are unlikely to be a factor in the government's injunction (the grounds for which are still, unusually, in public).

The author and assistant are very aware of the security procedures. Normally such publications are voluntarily submitted to interested parties for review, sometimes deletions are requested (there is another critical book currently where the author said no, as the information was in the public domain already and publication went ahead).

Andy Hayman worked in the Met and so the current Commissioner's views are of note: Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, complained last week that he had not been given a preview of the book’s contents. He questioned whether senior officers should be allowed to publish books of this kind about their period in service. Sir Paul said: “I find it surprising as commissioner that I have no right on this occasion to have access to the book before it is published. That surprises me. It is troublesome and it does not help good conduct.”

For some deeper reading I'd suggest this: http://rachelnorthlondon.blogspot.co...onspiracy.html

davidbfpo