Mulcaire loses evidence appeal

1 February 2012 Last updated at 07:58 ET

Glenn Mulcaire was jailed in 2007 for six months for phone hacking

Private investigator Glenn Mulcaire has lost his appeal against two court orders that could force him to name people who ordered him to hack phones.

A High Court panel heard the appeal at the Royal Courts of Justice in November but had reserved its judgement.

Mulcaire had appealed to try to avoid having to answer questions in civil proceedings that could incriminate him.

After the judgement was handed down, he issued a statement saying he intended to take his case to the Supreme Court.

In the statement, Mulcaire - who was not in court on Monday - said he was pleased the court had recognised the "long-standing common law privilege against self-incrimination" in its ruling.

"Though it considered that the Act [Senior Courts Act 1981] removed my privilege in these two cases, the Court of Appeal considered the arguments put forward on my behalf in great detail in its judgement," his statement said.

"I intend to appeal this ruling to the Supreme Court because this may affect my right to claim the privilege in other civil cases still being brought against me."

In their ruling, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger, and Lord Justice Maurice Kay refused Mulcaire automatic permission to appeal.

But the judges granted a stay until 17:00 GMT on Monday 6 February allowing Mulcaire the opportunity to directly petition the Supreme Court to ask if it will look at his case.

The Supreme Court only deals with the most important cases where the top judges have to decide on a point of law which is of general public importance.

Phone hacking

Mulcaire was jailed in January 2007 for six months along with the News of the World's royal correspondent Clive Goodman for illegally accessing voicemails of members of the royal household.

At the time he surrendered notebooks to the police containing information about phone hacking.

Mulcaire was contracted to the former newspaper to undertake "research assignments" from at least September 2001.

Comedian Steve Coogan and PR consultant Nicola Phillips, a former employee of the publicist Max Clifford, have since launched civil privacy cases against News International, the publisher of the now defunct Sunday tabloid, and Mulcaire.

Currently if questioned in the cases, Mulcaire would have to explain how he obtained voicemail numbers and passwords and who provided the details.

After Monday's ruling, Mr Coogan's solicitor, John Kelly said: "This is a very significant decision and is a landmark ruling in the area of privilege against self-incrimination.

"The Coogan decision is likely to be relied upon by other phone-hacking victims to assist them in their cases against NGN [News Group Newspapers] and Mulcaire."

Miss Phillips' lawyer said she was delighted that the appeal had been dismissed "and that an application to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court has been refused".

Solicitor Mark Lewis said his client hoped she would soon find out who at News of the World had instructed Mulcaire.

"She is naturally disappointed to see that Mr Mulcaire has indicated that he will ask the Supreme Court for permission to appeal further," he said.

Continue Reading... Labels: appeal, evidence, Loses, Mulcaire

BAA loses Stansted sale appeal

1 February 2012 Last updated at 06:35 ET

Spanish-owned BAA argued that it was not anti-competitive for it to own Stansted and Heathrow

Airport operator BAA has lost its appeal against a ruling that it must sell Stansted airport.

The Competition Commission first ruled three years ago that BAA's dominance in London and Scotland meant it must sell Gatwick, Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airports.

BAA sold Gatwick and recently agreed to sell Edinburgh, but it has continued to fight the Stansted decision.

The firm said it was "disappointed" and was considering its position.

Its appeal was dismissed by the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal, a judicial body whose panel is made up of judges and industry experts.

The Spanish-owned company will be unhappy about having to sell Stansted in such an unfavourable economic climate, BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott said.

BAA argued that it was not reasonable to consider Stansted as serving the same market as its other London airport, Heathrow, as they serve different markets and are used by different airlines.

As a result, BAA said it was not anti-competitive for it to operate both airports, but the competition authority did not agree.

Responding to the tribunal's ruling, Laura Carstensen, a member of the original Competition Commission inquiry which reported in 2009, said: "We are very pleased that our decision has been upheld.

"Whilst BAA is of course entitled to explore the available avenues for challenge, it is now surely time for BAA to accept our findings and proceed with the necessary divestments."

Speaking in July last year, BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said: "The Competition Commission has not recognised that the world and BAA have changed.

"A new government has changed aviation policy to rule out any new runway capacity in the South East and BAA has sold Gatwick Airport.

"Both are significant changes to the airport market. Further, the airports in question face increased competition from non-BAA airports, particularly those in Europe, for the business of low cost carriers who now take a pan-European view of the market."

Continue Reading... Labels: appeal, Loses, Stansted

Perry loses key SC backer after attack on Romney

BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. (AP) — Presidential candidate Rick Perry's criticism of Mitt Romney's business past had a boomerang effect Thursday, costing him the support of a prominent Republican in South Carolina.

Investment fund executive and top GOP donor Barry Wynn told The Associated Press he was leaving the Perry fold to endorse Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. Wynn said Perry's attacks on Romney's time at the helm of the private equity firm Bain Capital had crossed the line in a political party that values free-market capitalism.

"I've been fighting for this cause most of my life," Wynn said. "It's like fingernails on the chalkboard. It just kind of irritated you to hear those kind of attacks."

Perry, the Texas governor, swung hard this week at Romney's work at Bain Capital. The firm sometimes turned big profits even as companies it invested in went under, including some in South Carolina, and people lost jobs. Perry called Romney a "vulture capitalist" who put profits ahead of jobs.

By late Wednesday, Perry had backed away from the attack line and didn't mention in during remarks to crowds at campaign stops.

Perry is desperate for a strong showing in South Carolina, where the primary is Jan. 21, to keep his presidential hopes alive. He finished near the bottom of the pack in the voting in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Katon Dawson, a top Perry adviser in South Carolina, tried to minimize the effect of Wynn's decision.

"It's unfortunate and disappointing. But at the end of the day we are marching on," Dawson said. "It won't have any impact. The only impact it will have is on the media trying to report it."

Continue Reading... Labels: After, attack, backer, Loses, Perry, Romney

Nebraskan Loses Half Her Body Weight

Natalie Strawn of Omaha, Neb., had struggled with her weight since childhood.

"I was a depressed child growing up, so I used food as comfort," Strawn, 20, told "Good Morning America." "I didn't have any friends but I had food, so I ate.

"I would make nachos and I would take half a can to a whole can of refried beans, a whole bag of chips, whole pound bag of cheese and smother it in ranch dressing and that would be my breakfast," she said of her typical eating routine.

By sixth-grade, Strawn weighed 333 pounds, and as her weight increased, so did the bullying at the hands of her classmates.

"I would hear 'tub of lard,' I would be mooed at, that was what hurt the most, being mooed at when I walked down the hallways. I'd be called Shamu [the whale] if I was swimming at the local pool in the summertime. … I was bullied so bad. … I started being home schooled and when I turned 16, I dropped out and decided to get my GED," she said.

By age 17, Strawn weighed more than 550 pounds. She had difficulty walking, and couldn't learn to drive because she couldn't fit behind the wheel of a car.

"When you're 562 pounds, they don't make cars for people that size," Strawn said.

Finally, she decided that she had missed out on enough. Determined to change her life, she joined Weight Watchers. She attended weekly meetings, set small, 5-pound goals and chronicled her progress online in a video blog.

"The thing I like about the plan I'm doing is the freedom and flexibility it gives me," Strawn said of her success with Weight Watchers. "There's no food that's off limits so I can eat basically whatever I want. I just have to watch the portion control."

Strawn also began to exercise, something she says was almost impossible at first.

"It wasn't until I lost about 100 pounds that I could start exercising," she told "GMA." "I started doing chair aerobics and it was 18 minutes long and it was the longest 18 minutes of my life. The first time I did it I was so out of breath and I was drenched in sweat."

In the course of three years, she lost 282 pounds and, today, is far removed from both the exercise restrictions she faced, and the size 44 jeans she used to wear.

"Now I walk, I do a 2-mile DVD exercise every day," Strawn said.

Despite already losing more than her body weight, Strawn says, she'd like lose another 100 pounds.

"My dream weight is 168," she said, adding that 382 pounds is the total amount of weight she'd like to lose.

Helping Strawn achieve her goal in the past three years has been her mom, Rita, who has been on a weight-loss journey of her own, losing nearly 100 pounds herself.

"My mom, and I'm determined," Strawn told "GMA" of the two sources where she finds the strength to continue her weight-loss journey.

She also hopes her story is an example to others struggling with their weight as she once did.

"I don't like things that are hard, so if I can do it, anyone can do it," she said. "I'm determined.

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Continue Reading... Labels: Loses, Nebraskan, Weight