Did Mirror Journalist Simon Wright Orchestrate Joseph Pavlos’s England Changing Room Invasion?
NOT all the football hacks are writing about England’s failure in South Africa. Sunday Mirror journalist Simon Wright is passing the time between games at Cape Town Magistrates accused of orchestrating the incident in which England fan Pavlos Joseph, from Crystal Palace, London, found himself in the team dressing room after the dire England versus Algeria match. Pavlos was, as the story goes, looking for the toilet.
Brigadier Sally de Beer of the South African Police Service address the crowd:
“Simon Wright, 44, was arrested yesterday (Monday) morning at 8.25am at Cape Town international airport. He appeared in a World Cup court in Cape Town last night at 11pm. He was granted 3,000 rand bail and will appear again tomorrow morning (Wednesday) on charges of attempting to defeat the ends of justice.”
“Defeating the ends of justice” almost sounds like something worth aiming for, a superhero’s motto.
The National Commissioner of Police, General Bheki Cele, adds:
“The police have reason to believe this incident was orchestrated, and involved the co-operation of a number of individuals. This is revealed by initial investigations and what has been observed from CCTV footage.
“The police strongly believe the motive was to put the World Cup security in a bad light, and possibly to profit from this act.”
It’s a conspiracy?
“Mr Wright has admitted to harbouring and interviewing Mr Pavlos Joseph at a time when the police were searching for the latter in order to effect an arrest. The second criminal charge against Mr Wright relates to his alleged conduct in booking luxury hotel accommodation for Mr Joseph using false or incorrect particulars.”
Curiouser and curiouser…
A Trinity Mirror spokesman responds:
“Sunday Mirror reporter Simon Wright was arrested and charged in Cape Town last night. He is currently on bail and will appear in court tomorrow, Wednesday. He was engaged in a legitimate story for his newspaper and any suggestion that he or the newspaper was involved with Pavlos Joseph before he entered the England dressing room is entirely false.”
Joseph has already been banned from attending any more World Cup matches, his passport has been seized and he was released on 500 rand (£44) bail. He is also advised to go before he leaves home…
Posted: 30th, June 2010 | In: Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
