Journalist Katie French hails 'victory' after winning High Court bid against police officer

A weekly newspaper has won a High Court fight to name a sacked police officer who falsely claimed he was protected by an anonymity order, writes Hold The Front Page. 

The Basingstoke Gazette has named Terry Cooke after his 10-month bid to stay secret was dismissed at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Mr Cooke, a former Hampshire Constabulary officer, and his lawyers threatened the Gazette with legal action after it sought to report his name when he was sacked from the force following a secret tribunal in April 2021.

But, after Gazette publisher Newsquest began a bid to challenge the restrictions, it emerged tribunal chair William Hansen had not placed an anonymity order on the case, as Mr Cooke had claimed.

Editor Katie French described the case as a “victory for open justice”.

Speaking to HTFP, she said: I hope it will now serve as a warning to Hampshire Constabulary and police forces around the country to proceed with caution when allowing tribunals to be heard in secret, against Home Office guidelines.

“Mrs Justice Ellenbogen’s comments are clear – ex-policeman Mr Terry Cooke had no reasonable expectation of privacy. This hearing never should have happened in secret.

“The public will rightly wonder how many more of these tribunals are being held behind closed doors on weak grounds, affording officers who have abused their position anonymity and shielding them from proper scrutiny.

“Taking this case to the High Court was no easy feat. I am grateful to Newsquest’s head of legal, Simon Westrop, Tony Jaffa and his team and our advocate Johnathan Scherbel-Ball for supporting the Gazette and sticking with this case over the last ten months.”

Read the full article here.