The newspaper notorious for its sting operations has been the victim of a sting.
The News of the World was hoaxed into believing that a footballer had sent sexually explicit text messages to "a mystery woman".
Under the headline "Ex-Celtic keeper is a real glove rat", the paper claimed he had been deceiving his pregnant fiancée by sending her "explicit X-rated messages" and "sordid photos."
It published the story, about the Polish international player, Artur Boruc, in its Scottish edition in July last year.
The story was wholly untrue. Boruc sued the paper for defamation and the case had been expected to go to trial.
But the court of session in Edinburgh was told on Friday that the newspaper now conceded that it was in the wrong.
It had therefore agreed, in an out-of-court settlement, to apologise to Boruc and pay him £70,000, which is believed to be a record amount in a Scottish libel case. The paper will also pay all his legal expenses.
According to the News of the World's barrister, Roddy Dunlop QC, the paper had been "the victim of a highly complex deceit by one man."
The court was told the man, identified as Kevin O'Donnell, posed as Boruc's financial adviser and then wove a web of elaborate lies, with many interlinked strands which appeared to corroborate the story.
He set up a fake Facebook page and added bogus comments purporting to come from Boruc's girlfriend.
In one text image, he used a photoshopped picture of a man's torso in order to add a monkey tattoo, similar to one Boruc was known to have.
The scam only unravelled when mobile phone records showed that the calls had been made from a Glasgow hotel at a time when Boruc - who now plays for the Italian team Fiorentina - was on holiday in Sardinia.
Dunlop told the court that the defendants (News Group, the paper's publishers) "accept that they were entirely taken in by this fraud" but he added: "They were not reckless or irresponsible in the beliefs that they held.
Boruc's lawyer told the court that the allegations against his client had been "extremely upsetting." He said footballers "outed for misbehaviour faced being pilloried by rival fans."
PS: Moving on from the court report, and turning to the published story, I note these two paragraphs:
"Last night a friend of the Hoops hero... said: 'This is not a good time for this to come out. Artur's been stupid.'
The pal, who asked not to be named, added: 'He can't remember what he sent her but he should NEVER have done it.'"
In the light of the paper's admission that the story itself was untrue, these quotes are exposed as having been concocted.
It illustrates, once again, how difficult it is to believe anything one reads in the News of the World.
Sources: BBC/STV/The Scotsman
Comments in chronological order (Total 6 comments)
19 June 2011 10:28AM
Shock horror - Screws makes up quotes.
Many years ago I worked for a news agency and we would get the regular Saturday call from the NOTW "news"desk saying something like: "Here's the story and these are the quotes we need".
They never required anything more than "a friend" or a first name and by using the agency they were distancing themselves from the act of manufacturing the quotes. They could always claim to have accepted the material in good faith but we all knew what the game was.
Of course I'm absolutely sure that sort of thing doesn't happen any more... ;-).
19 June 2011 1:13PM
And still David Cameron says nothing to condemn News of the World or Rupert Murdoch,what an outrage.What a sellout and conman of a PM he really is.
$70000 pounds for wrecking a man and womans relationship when the fiancee was pregnant and wouldn't you know it , News of the World was the "victim " of an elaborate hoax.
What an appalling bare faced lie they knew nothing about it ,they make a fortune pedalling this f grade gutter crud and have been caught out paying people to do the dirty work to get these heinous stories for them so they can put them into print !
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has been more than willing to pay huge sums of money to dig up and expose the private and intimate lives of people at THEIR expense only to turn around when the shit hits the fan and try an disown their own corporate agenda.
What I want to know is how these huge number of witchunts,spying cases,phone hacking and computer hacking scandals and outrageous and defamatory headlines have ANYTHING to do with MEDIA or JOURNALISM ? More to the point how can David Cameron have the gall to even think of allowing Rupert Murdoch to buy B S Ky B in the face of such despicable and disgraceful actions on the part of Murdoch's corporation ?
The behaviour of N of the W is akin to to the sort of activities one usally associates with the C.I.A.,the F.B.I. or private investigators you see on T.V shows like Cheaters.
For the News of the World to actually call itself the News of the World is absolutely laughable.NOTHING could be further from the TRUTH !
Worse still the public of the world have seen exactly the same type of witchunts and spying cases from Rupert Murdoch's Fox News in America and his Sky News in Australia.
For Rupert Murdoch to continue to maintain he knows nothing about any of this sordid and criminal exposing of peoples personal lives is a bare faced lie on his behalf.
The fact is the type of activity from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has been going on for decades and he reads his own papers every DAY !!!! The TRUTH of the matter is Rupert Murdoch knows exactly what he's doing and exactly what his corporation is doing .
It's time David Cameron stopped making a mockery of himself ,his job ,the British political system and the British people and pulled Rupert Murdoch into line like he bloody well should.
20 June 2011 5:05PM
Roy, you are such a ponce, you really are.
When was the last time you, Pontiff On High, EVER had anyone jailed because of your courageous journalism?
Oh that's right, yes - absolutely never.
It's easy to kick the Screws, of course it is. There's a lot of fluff to waft away, I agree. Although dismissing the readers who enjoy that is not only commercial madness (which is why the Guardian is in its shuddering death throes) but downright bloody rude, too. Who EVER gave you the idea that Greenslade knows best? And don't say Rusbridger, because he clearly hasn't got a fucking clue how to run a business, either.
You forget the immense amount of good that paper does and the brilliant team it takes to put it together.
Now, I appreciate you're playing to your sad little audience of Wanted-To-Be-But-Never-Made-Its here (a bit like yourself, getting the boot after one infamously crap, and illegal (spot the ball) year editing) , but nonetheless, you become, incredibly, even more pathetic by the post, you really do. And such a shame, too, as you seem almost able to string two words together.
How about piece about the newspaper that currently pays you to slag off everyone else in the industry? Specifically, how its business model has failed, readers are leaving in their droves, and despite a £45m (estimated) in online revenue, the whole pack of cards has about five years maximum before it all falls down?
The trouble with you, Roy, apart from being incredibly tedious and insufferably sanctimonious, is that you're the weakling peering through the window at the big lads who kicked you out. Frankly, you didn't get picked for the team - were you the last one left? - and you remain as bitter about it today as you no doubt felt all tear-stained and lonely in the schoolyard.
Good help your students - the only thing they'll learn from you is how to work on a newspaper that won't even exist by the time they've earned their spurs.
Keep up the good work.
20 June 2011 8:45PM
Care to remind us?
21 June 2011 1:30AM
Bit like saying Hitler was kind to animals...
21 June 2011 5:02PM
As the forensic investigator of this case, it was interesting to see how the person in question tried to set up this web of lies against the footballer. There were photos of man with a low quality manipulation of Mr Boruc's tattoo , a lot of porn material, screen-shots of faked Facebook accounts and a lot of messages and chat records.
My impression is that people watch too much CSI but not necessarily understand the complexity of forensics.
The News of the World reporters may have been fooled, but the forensic analysis of the mobile phones of the alleged recipient showed too many discrepancies.
On the other hand, the cell site analysis of the call records of the number that sent the said messages made it absolutely clear. The messages were sent from Glasgow, and in particular from the proximity of Hilton Hotel at the city centre.
People may think they can manipulate the evidence in a mobile phone or a computer. The truth is that most of the time, a proper forensic examination will reveal the truth.
Vassilis Manoussos, MSc,PGC,BSc,AAS
Digital Foensics Consultant, Strathclyde Forensics.