Caught in the middle
Sir: As someone caught in the middle of the Lonrho House of Fraser affair, I read Paul Johnson's article (The press, 13 May) and Donald Trelford's response (Letters, 27 May) with more than a little interest. In a matter where speculation is rife, your readers might find it helpful in their assessment of Mr Trelford and his news- paper if they were to bear in mind the unanimous judgment of the Court of Appeal in the Fayad/Observer lawsuit deli- vered on 28 October 1988. This was not a finding by a single Queen's Counsel and an accountant but by three Lord Justices of Appeal and it was made three months after the completion of the DTI report of which Mr Trelford makes much play. Having heard the Observer/Lonrho counsel putting his case in the most favour- able light, the court ruled that the full weight of his argument did not raise even an inference that the money used to support the Fraser bid came from any source other than the Fayeds. In addition, the Observer conceded that it had no evidence to support the involvement of the Sultan of Brunei.
Mr Trelford's remark that the Observer has only published material when, after 'professional editorial scrutiny', 'journal- ists are satisfied that the information is true' is laughable. Not only has he formally abandoned his Sultan proposition before the courts, but after he had personally written two anonymous articles linking the Thatchers to the Sultan and the Fayeds his solicitors were forced to concede that they could not justify such allegations. It was the first of these articles (12 January 1986) which drove the Observer reporter David Leigh to describe his own editor's work as 'journalistically unacceptable'. Mr Trel- ford's former deputy, Anthony Howard, also describes that publication as 'totally unsourced' and having 'been through no normal journalist's checks'.
Royston Webb
Legal Director, House of Fraser Holdings, 14 South Street, London W1
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