Christopher Jeffries was publicly vilified following his arrest over the murder of architect Joanna Yeates in Bristol in 2010, as ITV News’ Sangita Lal reports
The government must find the “moral courage” to stand up to powerful media organisations, says a retired teacher who received an apology from Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper group this week over the invasion of his privacy.
It was one of Britain’s most shocking cases when 25-year-old landscape architect Joanna Yeates disappeared in Bristol in December 2010. After more than a week of searching, police discovered her body on Christmas Day.
The prime suspect: her landlord, Christopher Jefferies, who was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Though innocent, he became the target of a media frenzy in which he was described in some tabloids as “weird”, “creepy”, and a “peeping Tom”.
Mr Jefferies, who still lives in the same flat, told ITV News: “I lost a life which was very much on an even keel and became somebody who, in all sorts of ways, whether I wanted it or not, was a figure of some public attention.”
When asked about the headlines that vilified him, he said: “I don’t particularly want to remember what the headlines were. I think most people have a knack of suppressing memories which they would rather not have.”
Determined to restore his reputation, Mr Jefferies’ ordeal came to a head in 2011 in a High Court battle, in which eight newspapers paid him substantial libel damages, thought to total six figures.
The Sun and Daily Mirror were also fined for contempt of court for articles they published.
The former schoolteacher believed the libel action ended the matter, but almost 15 years on, he discovered the intrusion may have run even deeper.
This week, News Group Newspapers (NGN), publishers of The Sun and the defunct News of the World, offered Mr Jefferies a public apology at the High Court for alleged phone hacking, tapping of calls, and the blagging of his private information.
In court, lawyers speaking for NGN said: “The Defendant is here today, through me, to offer its apologies to Mr Jefferies for the distress caused to him by the invasion of his privacy by individuals working for or on behalf of the News of the World.
“The Defendant acknowledges that such activity should never have taken place and that it had no right to intrude into Mr Jefferies’ private life in this way.”
NGN agreed to pay substantial damages over the claims made against The Sun and News of the World, but made no admission of liability in relation to unlawful information gathering at The Sun.
Mr Jefferies, who is now a trustee of the Press Justice Project, which campaigns for people affected by press abuse, reserves his strongest criticism not for newspapers, but for politicians.
“I think I feel more angry than anything else with the politicians. I feel particular outrage that David Cameron, when he was prime minister, despite all his promises, didn’t carry through with the Leveson Inquiry,” he said.
He was equally scathing about the current prime minister: “The behaviour of Keir Starmer is absolutely shocking because in opposition Labour said, yes, part two of the Leveson Inquiry would take place.”
Mr Jefferies called for the government to have the “moral courage to stand up to organs of the press who are far more powerful than they ought legitimately to be”.
The Leveson Inquiry into press standards, in which Mr Jefferies gave evidence, was set up in the wake of the phone hacking scandal in 2012.
The second part of the inquiry was dropped by David Cameron, and last year Sir Keir Starmer confirmed he has no plans to revive it.
Speaking outside court this week, Christopher Jefferies’ lawyer Alex Cochrane of Edwards Duthie Shamash Solicitors said: “His life was destroyed not just by Newsgroup, but by other tabloid publishers as well”
“He sued for libel successfully. There were contempt of court proceedings brought against the newspapers for the reporting around his arrest,” Cochrane added.
“I think today it emerged afterwards that he had been targeted in using unlawful means and they apologise for that today.
“And I think hopefully this might draw a line under, you know, what’s been a very long but successful legal process.”
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