Graeme McLagan
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Graeme McLagan (born 1943) is a British journalist who was Home Affairs correspondent for
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
, specialising in crime and the police about which he has written three books.


Early life and education

McLagan was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne. Instead of university, he went back-packing and hitch-hiking in 1962 across the Middle East, south and south-east Asia on what later became known as the 'Hippie Trail'.


Journalism career

He was a reporter on the '' Newcastle Journal'' and the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' in London before joining the BBC, becoming Home Affairs correspondent. He won a
Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...
award in 1996 for his coverage of the
Arms-to-Iraq The Arms-to-Iraq affair concerned the uncovering of the government-endorsed sale of arms by United Kingdom, British companies to Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq, then under the rule of Saddam Hussein. The scandal contributed to the growing dissatisfaction w ...
affair. He travelled to Chile, the United States, South Africa and Jordan, reporting that these countries were used by British interests as secret diversionary routes to get arms to Iraq. He was commended in 1998 for ''Bent'', a
Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...
programme on police corruption. He wrote about journalists being caught on tape while seeking information from a private detective in the 'Big Brother' series of ''The Guardian'' magazine of 21 September 2002. McLagan covered many major trials and the successful appeals of the
Birmingham Six The Birmingham Six were six men from Northern Ireland who were each sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 following their false convictions for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. Their convictions were declared unsafe and unsatisfactory and q ...
and the
Maguire Seven The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were two groups of people, mostly Northern Irish, who were wrongly convicted in English courts in 1975 and 1976 of the Guildford pub bombings of 5 October 1974 and the Woolwich pub bombing of 7 November 1974. ...
. In 1997, he reported for the BBC Nine O'Clock News on the trial at the Old Bailey of eight defendants accused of an IRA plot to blow up electricity sub-stations around London. Six of the accused were found guilty and sentenced to thirty-five years in prison. His reports of the committal proceedings against
Jeremy Thorpe John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979 and as leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at the Old ...
, the then Liberal Party leader, led to complaints about him sticking rigidly to the style at the time of calling defendants by their surname alone. The BBC then changed its Radio Four policy, giving Thorpe and those following him into the dock of the Old Bailey the title of 'Mr'. In June 2021, his insight into events surrounding the axe-in-the-head murder of
Daniel Morgan Daniel Morgan (c. 1736 – July 6, 1802) was an American pioneer, soldier, and politician from Virginia. One of the most respected battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783, he later commanded troops during the sup ...
was recognised by the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel reviewing the role of police corruption over the killing. In a section on the media, the panel queried why McLagan's articles linking murder suspects with the News of the World had not been seen by the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Lord Stevens, before he started writing a column for that newspaper. McLagan also wrote about the
Leveson Leveson is a surname. The name as printed can represent two quite different etymologies and pronunciations: #A Leveson family who were Merchants of the Staple became very influential in Wolverhampton in the late Middle Ages, supplying both lay supp ...
inquiry into the phone hacking scandal, commenting on the revolving door between the Met and the News of the World.


Book author

In 2003, his book '' Bent Coppers'' examined how
Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...
set up an anti-corruption "Ghost Squad" to combat corruption in the Metropolitan Police and the
South East Regional Crime Squad South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...
. "If you want a book that is genuinely 'unputdownable' read Bent Coppers." (Johnny Vaughan, Sun). "Few journalists are better qualified to write on the subject of corruption inside the Metropolitan Poile than Graeme McLagan... A very engaging read - the outrageous nature of the bent cops' behaviour guarantees that." (Sunday Telegraph). He and his publisher
Orion Books Orion Publishing Group Ltd. is a UK-based book publisher. It was founded in 1991 and acquired Weidenfeld & Nicolson the following year. The group has published numerous bestselling books by notable authors including Ian Rankin, Michael Connell ...
were sued for libel by a former policeman, but won the case in October 2007 in the Court of Appeal. The case made legal history as it was the first time the so-called
Reynolds defence ''Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd'' was a House of Lords case in English defamation law concerning qualified privilege for publication of defamatory statements in the public interest. The case provided the Reynolds defence, which could be raised ...
had been used for a book. Named after the former Irish Taoiseach
Albert Reynolds Albert Martin Reynolds (3 November 1932 – 21 August 2014) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994. He held various cabinet positions between 1979 and 1991, including Ministe ...
, who sued
Times Newspapers News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp. It is the current publisher of ...
, that case established qualified privilege for publishing defamatory statements, provided they were in the public interest. It meant a court would investigate not only the content of the publication, but also the journalist's conduct. The court said of McLagan that "as a result of his honesty, his expertise on the subject, his careful research and his painstaking evaluation of a mass of material, the book was protected." The Reynolds defence was replaced under the
Defamation Act 2013 The Defamation Act 2013 (c 26) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which changed English defamation law on issues of the right to freedom of expression and the protection of reputation. It also comprised a response to perception ...
with the statutory defence of publication on a matter of public interest. In 2005, McLagan published ''Guns and Gangs'' about gun crime throughout the UK. "Graeme McLagan provides, perhaps for the first time, real answers... He has looked into the heart of the phenomenon and what he saw there makes compelling, if disturbing, reading." (Evening Standard) In February 2021, Buddy Club Productions, co-founded by BAFTA-nominee
Keeley Hawes Clare Julia Keeley Hawes (born 10 February 1976) is an English actress. After beginning her career in a number of literary adaptations, including '' Our Mutual Friend'' (1998) and '' Tipping the Velvet'' (2002), Hawes rose to fame for her portray ...
, acquired screen rights for a TV series for his book ''Mr Evil'' (also titled ''Killer on the Streets'') about
David Copeland The 1999 London nail bombings were a series of bomb explosions in London, England. Over three successive weekends between 17 and 30 April 1999, homemade nail bombs were detonated in Brixton in South London; at Brick Lane, Spitalfields, in the ...
, who was convicted of murder for the
1999 London nail bombings The 1999 London nail bombings were a series of bomb explosions in London, England. Over three successive weekends between 17 and 30 April 1999, homemade nail bombs were detonated in Brixton in South London; at Brick Lane, Spitalfields, in the Ea ...
. The book was co-authored by
Nick Lowles Hope not Hate (stylised as HOPE not hate) is an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom which campaigns against racism and fascism. It has also mounted campaigns against Islamic extremism and antisemitism. It is self-described as a "non-pa ...
, a former editor of
Searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely luminosity, bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a part ...
magazine and founder of
Hope not Hate Hope not Hate (stylised as HOPE not hate) is an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom which campaigns against racism and fascism. It has also mounted campaigns against Islamic extremism and antisemitism. It is self-described as a "non-pa ...
, which campaigns against racism. Copeland targeted black, Asian and LGBT communities (the latter at the Admiral Duncan pub). In the bombings, three people died and 140 were injured. The drama series is being written by twice-nominated BAFTA writer
Brian Fillis Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word mea ...
. McLagan also contributed background material for a Netflix documentary ''Nail Bomber: Manhunt'' on Copeland. In April 2021, he was interviewed for ''Bent Coppers: Crossing the Line of Duty'', a three-part series on BBC2 about police corruption in the 1970s. The programme explained how corrupt police officers in both the Metropolitan and City of London police forces took bribes from armed robbers to water down evidence and help them get bail.


Books

* ''Mr Evil'' (2000) Hardback John Blake () Paperback ''Killer on the Streets'' () * '' Bent Coppers'' (2003) Hardback Weidenfeld & Nicolson () Paperback Orion () * ''Guns and Gangs'' (2005) Allison and Busby () Paperback ()


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLagan, Graeme British journalists 1943 births Living people