By Ben Rumsby
The Government has bowed to
pressure to consider changing the
law on double jeopardy after it pre-
vented Bob Higgins being prose-
cuted for sexually abusing another
six schoolboy footballers.
As revealed by The Daily Tele-
graph, three of Higgins’s accusers
launched a public campaign last
month to expand the list of offences
exempt from legislation designed
to stop someone being tried for the
same crime twice.
The trio of former Southampton
youth players did so after revealing
for the first time their pain and an-
ger at being denied “justice” over
their complaints against one of
football’s most prolific paedophiles,
who was jailed on June 12 for almost
25 years for molesting 23 school-
boys over a similar period.
The 66-year-old was convicted
more than a quarter of a century af-
ter being controversially acquitted
of abusing the three campaigners
and three other youngsters.
After being alerted to the cam-
paign by The Telegraph, Dame Vera
Baird QC, the Victims’ Commis-
sioner of England and Wales, wrote
to the then-justice secretary, David
Gauke, on her first day in office last
month urging the Government to
commit to a review of the list of
offences exempt from double-jeop-
ardy rules, which include murder
and rape.
She then met Edward Argar, the
justice minister, who told her to
propose specific offences to be
added to the list, with Gauke subse-quently writing back to her to ac-
knowledge the status quo “cannot
be regarded as being set in stone”.
In his letter, he warned expand-
ing the list was “not something we
would undertake lightly”. He
added: “Any amendment would be
certain to prompt requests for
other offences of arguably equal
seriousness to be added as well.
“When you met Edward Argar on
July 4, you agreed to come back
with proposals for particular
offences that you consider should
qualify for retrial where the other
statutory criteria are met.”
A spokesman for the Victims’
Commissioner said yesterday: “We
will be considering what offences
Dame Vera might recommend for
inclusion onto the list.”
Leading child abuse lawyer Dino
Nocivelli, of Bolt Burdon Kemp,
who represents five of the six
affected former players, lodged a
petition on the Parliament website
last month calling for all sexual
abuse offences to be exempt from
double-jeopardy rules.
The public campaign followed
two years of private lobbying, dur-
ing which the Ministry of Justice
told one of the trio that the Govern-
ment had “no plans” to amend the
existing legislation.
Nocivelli welcomed the about-
turn and said he expected Gauke’s
successor – the 47-year-old quit the
Government yesterday after Boris
Johnson won the race to become
prime minister – to honour his
commitment.
He added: “Obviously, this is a
positive step in our campaign to
change the law.”By Sam Dean in Washington DC
Unai Emery has said Arsenal must
improve defensively and become
more consistent if they are to catch
Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea
this season as he warned fans to be
“realistic” about their prospects of
challenging at the top of the table.
Arsenal finished two points be-
hind third-placed Chelsea and one
adrift of Spurs last season as they
failed to qualify for the ChampionsLeague in Emery’s first campaign.
The Arsenal head coach saw the
year as one of progress in the first
season since Arsene Wenger’s exit,
but accepted that his players were
not always able to produce the
high-intensity football he demands.
“My idea is the same,” Emery
said. “I want a team with good posi-
tioning, combinations between the
players and also experience in all
situations, being able to attack andplay with a big intensity. I like the
energy, I like to be the protagonists.
“Some matches last year we can
see this is our philosophy, the in-
tensity we want to create. At other
times we could not do that.”
Arsenal finished 28 points be-
hind Manchester City last season.
Asked if his side could pose a title
challenge this time around, Emery
said: “We need to be realistic, and
now the distance between Liver-
pool and Manchester City to us is [a
lot of ] points.
“We need to improve defen-
sively, but with no loss offensively.
Sometimes it is true that we strug-
gled defensively and to take the
balance. Sometimes we took this
balance last year and our challenge
is to keep producing that.”
Emery’s hopes for the new cam-
paign will be lifted by the imminent
arrival of Real Madrid midfielder
Dani Ceballos on a season-long
loan. The 22-year-old is seen as one
of the most gifted young players in
Spain and will fill the void left by
Aaron Ramsey.
“For me, [we want] to sign play-
ers only if we are convinced they
are going to improve our [squad],”
Emery added. “There is two or
three, no more than four, who can
improve that.”Government to review double
jeopardy after Higgins case
Emery admits that Arsenal
title challenge is unrealistic
Newcastle break record
to sign £40m Joelinton
By John Percy
Newcastle United have broken
their transfer record for the second
time this year with the £40 million
capture of Joelinton, in a move
which will temporarily clear the
negativity around St James’ Park.
The former Brazil Under-17 inter-
national has agreed a six-year deal
and becomes the first signing for
Steve Bruce, the new manager. The
22-year-old striker scored 11 goals in
35 appearances for Hoffenheim last
season.
Newcastle are hoping the 6ft 1in
Joelinton can prove a huge success
after the departures of Salomon
Rondon, who was on loan last sea-
son from West Bromwich Albion,
and Ayoze Perez, who joined
Leicester City this month for
£30 million.
The deal offers brief respite to
Bruce, whose appointment has
gone down badly with the majority
of supporters. Bruce said: “The
kid’s got an exciting time ahead of
him. He’s a smashing young player.
“It’s been going on for a little bit
now, so to get him is great for
everybody. He’s got everything that
a modern-day player wants. He’s
big, strong and athletic, and of
course he’s got age on his side, too,
which is vitally important.
“He’s learnt the history and
wanted it [the No 9 shirt] and that’s
always a big shirt to fill. But in his
eyes it was, ‘Bring it on – it’s what
I’m here for’.
“He’s risen to that challenge and
I’m sure he will be a big, big
favourite of the supporters. He’s got
an incredible work rate about him,
he’s got a really good humility about
him and all the attributes a top
striker needs.”
The fee surpasses the previous
club record of £20 million paid to
Record breaker: Joelinton says he is
prepared to take on ‘big responsibility’Atlanta United for Paraguay play-
maker Miguel Almiron in January.
“I’m really happy to be here,”
Joelinton said to NUFCTV. “I know
it [the No 9 shirt] is a huge
responsibility, the great Alan
Shearer, the team’s biggest idol. I
know it is a big responsibility, but
I’m prepared.
“I know that everybody at theclub has faith in me having brought
me here today. I hope to contribute
on the pitch. I’m happy and pre-
pared. Rest assured, there will be
no shortage of desire and dedica-
tion to score lots of goals and
honour the No 9 shirt.”
Joelinton started his career in
Brazil with Sport Recife, where he
made his first-team debut aged 16.
He spent two seasons from 2016
on loan at Rapid Vienna, where he
scored 21 goals in 79 appearances.Long game: Unai
Emery aims to
improve defence
without losing
attacking strengthDeal could appease fans
angry at Bruce’s arrival
Brazilian pledges to
‘honour the No 9 shirt’
In brief
Bale rules out loan deal
Gareth Bale will not be allowed to
leave Real Madrid on loan, his
agent has insisted. The Wales
forward, who trained with the rest
of the club’s squad yesterday ahead
of their pre-season International
Champions Cup fixture against
Arsenal in Maryland, appears on
the verge of a transfer. However,
the 30-year-old’s agent, Jonathan
Barnett, said any transfer would
only be done if it were in his
client’s best interests.
“There will be no makeshift
deals to get him out of the club,”
Barnett said. “Gareth is one of the
best players on the planet. I can
guarantee you he will not be^ going
on loan to any club. For now
Gareth is staying as a Real Madrid
player. If something comes along
that suits us, then things could
change and he could be gone in a
day or a week, or he could still be a
Real player in three years, when
his contract ends.”Sheffield United sign Osborn
Sheffield United have had a bid
accepted for Nottingham Forest
midfielder Ben Osborn. The newly
promoted Premier League club
had an initial offer rejected earlier
this summer, but the two clubs
have now reached an agreement
for the 24-year-old. The fee agreed
is not thought to be in excess of the
club-record £10 million United
paid for Bournemouth striker Lys
Mousset last week, but it is a
significant improvement on their
initial offer of £3 million.
Osborn is the club’s sixth signingof a summer during which they
have broken their transfer record
no fewer than three times.
Manager Chris Wilder remains
keen to bring Manchester United
keeper Dean Henderson back on
loan, following his spell with the
club last season.Bilic ramps up Sawyers bid
West Bromwich Albion have made
an improved offer of £2.75 million
for Brentford captain Romaine
Sawyers. Slaven Bilic, the West
Brom manager, has made
recruiting the 27-year-old English
midfielder a priority and made a
second bid yesterday. The
Championship club have also
signed Darnell Furlong, a 23-year-
old defender, from Queens Park
Rangers for £1.7 million.The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 24 July 2019 *** 7
РЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS