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October 16, 2015

‘They call it a crime, we call it democracy’ – lawyers condemn ‘unmitigated disaster’ of journalist trials

By Dominic Ponsford

“They call it a crime, we call it a democracy.” This was the verdict of one defence lawyer after the Operation Elveden prosecution of journalists over payments for stories concluded yesterday with the acquittal of Sun staffers Jamie Pyatt and Chris Pharo.

Some 34 journalists have been arrested on suspicion of making payments to public officials since 2011, many of them in dawn raids on their homes.

Yesterday’s verdict at the Old Bailey means that off those 34, two convictions stand – the rest have all been cleared. One jouranalist, former Sunday Mirror and News of the World reporter Dan Evans, admitted various offences and gave evidence against colleagues to avoid jail.

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