Web weakens secrecy order over royal 'blackmail'

Published on Tuesday 30 October 2007 01:16

THE alleged royal blackmail case has exposed the difficulties the law faces in controlling the dissemination of information in a world where the media operates round the globe 24-7.

A gagging order has been issued banning identification of the royal allegedly targeted by two men threatening to expose him in a sex and drugs scandal.

Yesterday, as more details emerged about Ian Strachan, 30, originally from Aberdeen, who is accused of being involved in the plot with 40-year-old Sean McGuigan, internet forums were full of speculation about who their alleged victim could be.

Such an order is typical in blackmail cases, given that the very root of the crime is about the threat of information being released.

However, in the information age, publications are becoming increasingly difficult to control, with the advent of the internet and round-the-clock television news stations.

John Chalmers, a civil litigation lawyer with experience in media law, said: "If someone within the UK breached a court order, they would be in serious trouble.

"But in this case, parties outwith the UK would not be prevented, as far as I can see, from publishing the information.

"It's hard to see how any such order could be enforced abroad. There would be nothing to stop foreign websites, magazines and newspapers from printing the information."

However, this relief would not apply to UK-based websites, which would be subject to the same rules as the traditional media. And if a website in the UK reprinted the information from a foreign website, it would again find itself with legal problems.

However, Mr Chalmers said, issues with information becoming available overseas and then filtering back to the UK, are not peculiar to the internet.

The Spycatcher case in 1985 involved the UK government trying - and failing - to stop publication of a book in Australia.

Mr Chalmers, a partner in Ledingham Chalmers, said: "It simply could not go to every court in every country so it was facing an impossible task."

He said that the challenge of keeping secret the details of the member of the Royal Family involved in the alleged blackmail plot could prove to be equally tough.

The gagging order was imposed to prevent a Sunday newspaper naming the alleged victim when it published details of the case.

It said that one of the two men allegedly claimed to have video footage suggesting a royal aide had an envelope containing cocaine supplied by the royal.

It was also alleged that a video tape existed in which it is indicated an aide engaged in a sex act with the royal.

The alleged 50,000 plot was smashed through a Metropolitan Police undercover operation on 11 September.

Strachan and McGuigan appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on 13 September, each charged with one count of blackmail, and were remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 20 December.

SCOTTISH CONNECTIONS

IAN Strachan, also known as Paul Adalsteinsson, had been living in London, but much of his family is still in the north-east of Scotland.

The 30-year-old's uncle, who did not want to be named, said he started using his mother's maiden name after she split from his Icelandic father.

The owner of the Cults Hotel, Aberdeen, said: "I haven't seen him for a number of years. He moved south with his mother quite a few years ago."

His father, Charlie, runs a small fish-merchant business in Fraserburgh and lives in Cruden Bay with his second wife.

He said: "It is nothing to do with me. I have not seen him for a long time. I have no comment to make about his arrest or what he has done."

The former Aberdeen Grammar School pupil is understood to have owned a chip shop and a clothes shop in Aberdeen.

His lawyer, Giovanni di Stefano, said he moved in "champagne Charlie" circles and mixed with people on the fringes of the royal family.

Little is currently known about his co-accused, Sean McGuigan.