4 OCTOBER 1997, Page 30

Rush to judgment

Sir: It is always amusing to observe how the media whinge and whine when someone makes a decision of which they disapprove. That the decision may even be right is irrel- evant. Mr Watkins's article (When Jonathan won', 20 September) is a good example.

I decided in the Aitken trial that in the light of the documents the case could not be conveniently tried by a jury. The Court of Appeal agreed. By the time of trial that was even more self-evident.

The lamentable observations about the Court's supposed reasons sadly reflect only on Mr Watkins himself.

LETTERS

If Mr Watkins had had the courtesy to contact me before writing his article he might have avoided some of his more imag- inative speculations: indeed he might not have written such a silly article. Perhaps he ought to stick to politics.

Oliver Popplewell

Royal Courts of Justice, Strand WC2