Stuart Kuttner

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Stuart Kuttner
Born1939/1940(age 81–82) [1]
OccupationNewspaper editor

Stuart Kuttner (born 1939/1940) [1] is a former newspaper editor. He worked as the news editor for the London Evening Standard [2] before joining the News of the World newspaper in 1980 [3] first as a deputy editor, then as managing editor. [4] He held the position for 22 years before stepping down from his post in 2009 [5] and retiring to Woodford Green. [6] He was arrested on 2 August 2011, in connection with the News International phone hacking scandal, but has now been acquitted. He was 71 at the time of his arrest. [1]

Contents

Sarah's Law

Kuttner was closely involved with the campaign for Sarah's Law. It was for this work that he and a colleague were awarded the "team of the year" prize at the 2002 British Press Awards. Upon leaving the News of the World he stated that he would continue to work with the paper on "specialised projects" including campaigning for parents to be able to find out if registered sex offenders are resident in their area. [2]

Arrest

Kuttner was arrested by appointment on 2 August 2011 by officers involved in Operation Weeting on suspicion of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977, [7] the same charges as had been laid against former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks just over two weeks earlier. [7] He was initially released under police bail until the end of the month but was taken into custody again on 30 August and bailed until an unspecified date in September. [8] On 24 July 2012, he was formally charged with conspiracy to intercept communications between 3 October 2000 to 9 August 2006 without lawful authority regarding communications of Milly Dowler and David Blunkett, MP. [9] [10] Since police renewed investigations in 2011, 90 people have been arrested and 16 formally charged with crimes, including Kuttner, in conjunction with illegal acquisition of confidential information.

His trial started in October 2013, and in June 2014 he was found not guilty. [11] The former archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, had defended him in court, saying "Stuart was and is a good man. He is a man of integrity ... He is a man whose Jewish ethics went through his life and echoed mine as a deeply Christian ethic."

On 15 October 2014, Kuttner lost his bid to recover the legal fees he had incurred as a result of being a co-defendant in the phone-hacking trial. Mr Justice Saunders said he was satisfied that the conduct of Kuttner and his co-defendant, Charlie Brooks, had "brought suspicion on themselves and misled the prosecution into thinking that the case against them was stronger than it was". [12]

See also

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By 2002, the practice of publications using private investigators to acquire confidential information was widespread in the United Kingdom, with some individuals using illegal methods. Information was allegedly acquired by accessing private voicemail accounts, hacking into computers, making false statements to officials to obtain confidential information, entrapment, blackmail, burglaries, theft of mobile phones and making payments to officials in exchange for confidential information. The kind of information acquired illegally included private communication, physical location of individuals, bank account records, medical records, phone bills, tax files, and organisational strategies.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Becker, Jo; Somaiya, Ravi (2 August 2011). "Latest Arrest Highlights a Tabloid's Cash Payments". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  2. 1 2 Robinson, James (8 July 2009). "Stuart Kuttner: Managing editor who was News of the World's public face". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  3. ↑ Robinson, James; O'Carroll, Lisa (2 August 2011). "Stuart Kuttner: the News of the World's notoriously frugal managing editor". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "Phone hacking scandal: profile of Stuart Kuttner". The Telegraph. London. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  5. ↑ Brook, Stephen (8 July 2009). "Stuart Kuttner steps down as News of the World managing editor". The Guardian. UK.
  6. ↑ Curtis, Joe (31 August 2011). "WOODFORD GREEN: Rearrest of 'former News of the World managing editor'". Epping Forest Guardian. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
  7. 1 2 Hill, Amelia (2 August 2011). "Phone-hacking scandal: Stuart Kuttner is latest NoW exec to be arrested". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  8. ↑ Robinson, James (30 August 2011). "Phone hacking: NoW's former managing editor answers police bail". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "Alison Levitt QC's announcement on charges arising from Operation Weeting" (Press release). Crown Prosecution Service. 24 July 2012. Archived from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  10. ↑ "Phone hacking: full list of charges". The Guardian. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  11. ↑ "Hacking trial: Coulson guilty, Brooks cleared of charges". BBC. 24 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "Charlie Brooks and Stuart Kuttner lose hacking costs case". BBC News. 15 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
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