A British investigative journalist has warded off a renewed bid to force him to reveal his source for an article published seven years ago about a mental hospital's alleged mistreatment of a murderer.
Mersey Care NHS Trust had urged the Court of Appeal to overturn a High Court ruling won by reporter Robin Ackroyd in February last year. The High Court had rejected argument by the trust — responsible for top security Ashworth Hospital where Brady has been held since 1985 — that the public interest in a journalist's right to protect his sources was overridden by patient confidentiality, the Evening Standard said.
Robin Ackroyd gave extracts from Brady's medical records to the Daily Mirror, which printed them in an article about "the Moors Murderer's hunger strike" in December 1999. The House of Lords ordered the Daily Mirror to disclose the source of the leaked medical records. When Ackroy came forward, the Ashworth secure hospital launched legal proceedings against him to reveal his source.
According to a Press Gazette report, the National Union of Journalists General Secretary Jeremy Dear said: "At last justice has prevailed and Robin Ackroyd — and all journalists — can rest assured that they will not be forced to reveal their sources. Robin has showed immense courage in defending this important principle during seven very tough years and thanks to his brave stand media freedom in this country is stronger today. It was evident from the start that this was a clear case of public interest. This principle must be safeguarded so that investigative journalists can do their vital job of exposing uncomfortable truths.”
Dear said, “Lessons need to be learnt from this case. The hundreds of thousands of pounds Mersey Care NHS Trust poured into pursuing Robin through the courts would have been far better spent on treating the people within their care. "I hope that the Trust will finally draw a line under this long and painful episode. They must desist from yet another appeal and stop throwing good money after bad."
Brady, 69, who was jailed for life with Myra Hindley in 1966 for the murders of five children, has claimed that the hospital used "the legal pretext of doctor-patient confidentiality" to conceal conditions at Ashworth, the Evening Standard said. He began his hunger strike in September 1999 after he complained about being forcibly removed from his room at the hospital to a new ward because of security concerns sparked by a patient on his old ward.
