David Hewitt reflects on the history & impact of perverse verdicts
It began when I was called for jury service, and I found myself thinking about Clive Ponting. I remember him emerging into a media scrum outside the Old Bailey, his breath hanging on the chilly air. He is wearing a raincoat, even though it is only February, and he looks tired.
The year was 1985, and Ponting had just been acquitted of breaching the Official Secrets Act after a two-week trial. He was said to have leaked classified documents about the sinking of an Argentinian warship, the General Belgrano , during the Falklands conflict. Crucially, he had admitted doing so.
It seemed to me that the implications of Ponting’s case had never been properly understood, and so I started to ask some questions.
The documents had been sent to Tam Dalyell, a Member of Parliament, and they revealed that the Belgrano had been heading away from the Royal Navy ‘taskforce’ when it was hit. That wasn’t, however, the official version, and it
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