However, Penn and his American-born wife Eve Leigh were less concerned with their neighbours' welfare than with damaging them in any way they could. Penn handed over a surveillance recording he had made to the Guardian, which ran the sofa wine stain story.
Boris and Carrie have already been subject of a campaign of harassment and intimidation in their home with flyers (pictured below) plastered around the building and on vehicles outside. It is not known whether Penn and Leigh are responsible for these.
We also don't know how the recording was made. In a statement to the Guardian, Penn claims "I went inside my own home, closed the door, and pressed record on the voice memos app on my phone." If his claims that the recording in which the words of a heated conversation can be heard clearly was made in this way, it is extraordinary. Until we have the audio file to analyse, the veracity of Penn's claim cannot be confirmed. It is possible that the hostile neighbours made the recording using professional mics (they are theatre people, after all) fixed onto/into the party wall or floor - and that the clip heard by the Guardian was just an out-take from a comprehensive series of surveillance recordings. Until we have access to the audio file we simply don't know.
Boris Johnson is a terrorist target and an MP and ex-cabinet minister. The police must surely now determine whether he was being bugged by his hostile neighbours - and crucially, whether Penn and Leigh have breached s.58 of the 2000 Terrorism Act -
Collection of information.Then there is also the person or persons behind these leaflets - were they printed or made on an employer's colour copier?
(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) he collects or makes a record of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or
(b) he possesses a document or record containing information of that kind.
Britain is neither in thrall to the Stasi or the Gestapo and their gangs of block and neighbourhood informants. Penn and Leigh committed an unforgivable breach of privacy at the very least, and possible criminal offences at worst. This is not an end to the matter.
21 comments:
Well you can't believe everything you read in the papers....
I mean the highly respected Guardian ran a campaign a few years ago on privacy. It led to the Leveson Enquiry, and all sorts of luvvies like Grant and so on crawled out of the woodwork.
What double standards?
What's the betting that the dozy plod have not taken charge of that recording which may have already been deleted, same with the posters have they preserved those for analysis. Hope the lawyers are chasing this up.
Whoa, hang on a minute.
If there is a possibility that BJ's place was bugged how long had it been going on for.
What if BJ had been discussing work when he got home, Brexit, strategies etc.
Could be that catching the wine stain tiff was just a morsel from a bigger and different operation.
RAC - precisely. Or for purposes of blackmail or aiding a foreign power. The security services should be taking Penn and Leigh's apartment apart.
"The security services should be taking Penn and Leigh's apartment apart."
... in the same way that the Clinton's should be arrested and charged? Pffft. The Security Services (of whatever country) will do what they want, not what they're told.
That's what I mean, could have been going on for a more serious purpose. They may have outed themselves when the tiff proved to be irresistible juicy gossip for lefties to pass on to the gutter press.
foreign power = eu + remain + left
Lefty groupthink excuse every action they take, but imagine the shrill cries of rage if the same actions were taken against them.
Did the 'row' warrant the police being called? Perhaps. Sending the recording to the Gruaniad? A privacy invasion and a political act.
Am I the only person who thinks this is actually playing to Boris's advantage? Who hasn't had a row with their other half? Who thinks much of nosey neighbours? If Boris has a brain he'll keep very shtum on the subject and let his opponents over reach themselves with their attacks. The more they push it the worse they'll look and the better Boris comes out of it.
Ooooh, harken to it, the extremist left and with the umbrage brigade are out in force with and arrayed, flourishing their twitchforks and baying for blood.
The diabolica and UK remoaniac establishment conjuring up the school of dark arts and the pricks are, stabbing the effigy of bojo with all their impish handed might!
Note it well that: how they certainly do fear him.
I wonder why or.........nah: perhaps I really do know.
I deem that, the more they batter him, the more it do embolden him, hang tight you tory members and remember to do the right thing, we don't want another maybot in dressed up in hunt cloaking.
No Sobers, EVERYBODY thinks that except perhaps the 5% loud, whiny, extremist Lefties. This will (and has already) played into Boris hands. Ian Dale's interview highlights that even though it was primarily in front of would-be supporters.
Lots more to this and clearly the 'damage Boris in the last round of the comapaign' gang came out too hard and too fast.
It will be interesting to find out how much the Guardian paid for the recordings, and whether they have any more.
Now here's a pleasant, if rather out there, thought.
What if BJ and his good lady suspected there was something untoward about the nasty neighbors.
They may have staged the shouting match hoping for just the reaction that happened.
Nasty neighbors are now in a position to be investigated, their electronic communications may now be being monitored, that would be amusing.
PS. It's "the American-born Boris Johnson", btw.
He only gave up US citizenship lately to avoid US tax liability.
Yes, he's perhaps a patriot, but not to this country.
not sure if Ed's comments are all straw men but he should change his name to Aunt Sally anyway
who is Fatimah/Fatima? Heard some early news about that...
Wine stain?
An attempt to subconsciously link Boris with Harvey?
As long as the neighbours did not trespass to make their recording, then no law was broken. It's not unlawful to record the sounds on one's own property, and it would be an outrage if it were.
Such recordings are their private property, and the police, quite correctly, acknowledged that. We do not live in a police state, and they have no right to them other than as evidence if an actual crime were suspected or reported. None was.
However, if the State invades any law-abiding person's privacy, then, again, quite correctly, that is unlawful.
"As long as the neighbours did not trespass to make their recording, then no law was broken. It's not unlawful to record the sounds on one's own property, and it would be an outrage if it were."
I'm not sure thats true. I suspect that the laws on harassment could come into play if you were specifically and consistently targeting your neighbour's conversations with equipment designed to pick up what they were saying on their property, be that directional mikes or wall listening gear. Especially if you were then releasing said recordings to the public. Or indeed selling them to the press.......
And I suspect (though its not relevant in the Johnson case) that if you were recording your neighbour's children talking and playing from your own property then you might well be in quite a bit of hot water if discovered.
Good old Cressida Dick.
Who needs the Guardian when you've got the Met!
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