As revealed by the excellent Nick Harris over at the Sporting Intelligence website it appears as though the end may be in sight for the John Higgins saga, while there is also the twist that the News of the World appear to be holding on to the unedited version of the infamous video until they receive assurances from Higgins and Pat Mooney that they will not be sued…
To view the article please click here.
The key points are that according to the article
- A tribunal hearing scheduled is set to take place on either the 7th or 8th September 2010 and will be chaired by Mr Ian Mill QC.
- The News of the World have demanded that both John Higgins and Pat Mooney agree not commence legal proceedings against them in the future before they release the full unedited evidence to their respective legal teams.
While it remains impossible to pre-judge the whole affair, judging by the reactions of fans on many of the most notable snooker websites out there it appears as though many already have, interpreting this as a bodyblow to the case of those believing Higgins to be guilty of any wrongdoing.
Wherever the truth lies, hopefully we will have a decision one way or the other in early September and we can once again concentrate on the on-table action, rather than off it.
the fact that NoW will only deliver the unedited material only after John and Patrick signed a paper in which they promise to don’t sue the NotW speask volumes!
I really can’t see who they can find John guilty under this surcustances and with this manipulated Evidence. The only thing they can hold him reliable for is that he wouldn’t imidiately report what happend in Kiev to Barry Hearn or someone else from the WPBSA… If not reporting it can be seen as disrepute is a good question… Luckily I won’t have to answer it.
More and more I get the impression there is no real evidence against John in the unedited material. Why should NotW need a reassurance in the case they provide the whole material? I hope John will sue them for the damage they have done to him and the entire Snooker sport that they have to pay so much money they loose the desire to lure people into traps like this for ever.
The video “evidence” seems to be irrelevant now. However, John’s statement released after the story appeared is what I have a ahrd time forgetting. Something odd took place and John didn’t deny key elements of the sting (i.e. “going along with it”)
I agree with Claus, the video is becoming an irrelevance. The real issue is why the Russian Mafia story was spouted and why if this was the case they didn’t tell Barry. They both admitted to going along with it and didn’t question the basic premise of the story at the beginning. If they would have said from the start ‘this video has been edited’ then I’d have a bit more sympathy for them both. That said, I think a fine and a six month retrospective ban for John will probably be passed and he’ll be back for the Masters. After all, he didn’t actually fix anything did he?