the times | Thursday October 15 2020 2GM 15
News
Sir Elton John and his former wife have
ended a legal battle over allegations
that the pop star broke an agreement
not to speak about their four-year
marriage.
Renate Blauel, 67, sued Sir Elton for
allegedly breaching a deal that the pair
signed after their divorce in 1988.
The former recording engineer ini-
tially asked the High Court to grant an
injunction to prevent the singer from
making further public disclosures. She
DORSET POLICE/PA; BOURNEMOUTHECHO/BNPS
Scotland Yard has rowed back on its
investigation into the historian David
Starkey’s claims about slavery after a
public backlash over free speech con-
cerns.
A senior officer is reviewing whether
it was proportionate for police to pur-
sue Dr Starkey and Darren Grimes, the
conservative political activist who
interviewed him. The pair were due to
attend interviews under caution but
they have been postponed.
Both men were placed under investi-
gation on September 25 for the public
order offence of stirring up racial
hatred after Dr Starkey, 75, said that
slavery was not genocide because
“otherwise there wouldn’t be so many
damn blacks in Africa or in Britain”. Mr
Grimes, 27, published their exchange
on his YouTube channel.
Dr Starkey was widely criticised and
stripped of academic honours after the
interview was broadcast while Mr
Grimes, who came to prominence
when he founded the youth-focused,
pro-Brexit group BeLeave, apologised
for failing to challenge him.
The Metropolitan Police’s decision to
pursue the publisher of an interview
resulted in widespread criticism amid
concerns about the threat posed to
freedom of speech.
Priti Patel, the home secretary,
said that it was important that
the law protected freedom of
speech. Her predecessor, Sajid
Javid, said that it was “plainly
absurd” to go after journalists for
the remarks of their guests.
Lord Macdonald of River
Glaven, the director of public
prosecutions from 2003-
08, said that the police
action was “sinister and
foolish”.
The Met said that it
began its investi-
gation after seeking
advice from the
Crown Prosecution
Service. The force
Sir Elton makes peace with ex-wife in privacy breach battle
also sought damages and her legal
costs, said to total about £3 million.
Last month, however, the pair agreed
to withdraw their dispute from court as
they aimed to resolve it privately.
Yesterday a spokesman for Sir Elton
said: “The parties are happy to an-
nounce that they have resolved this
case, in a way that acknowledges Rena-
te’s need for privacy.
“For her part, Renate acknowledges
that Elton has acted in a dignified and
respectful way towards her in the last
30 years and has been always happy to
help her. They will not be discussing
each other, or their marriage, in future
and will be making no further comment
about the case.”
At the time of their split, the pair
signed a contract which included a
clause preventing either of them from
discussing their marriage or the rea-
sons for their separation.
This year, Ms Blauel, from Germany,
sued Sir Elton, 73, over “repeated and
flagrant” breaches of the agreement in
his 2019 memoir Me and in the film
Rocketman, which was released in the
same year. In the legal claim, Ms Blau-
el’s lawyers said that she was particular-
ly hurt by a passage in Sir Elton’s book
that said he had not wanted children
until he married the Canadian film-
maker David Furnish.
She has also claimed that there are
scenes in the award-winning 2019 film
that depicted their relationship in
breach of their agreement.
Her lawyers told the court that nu-
merous articles were written about the
marriage after the film was released last
year. It was claimed that in one instance
an unidentified journalist tracked Ms
Blauel to the village where she lived.
Adam Wolanski, QC, for Ms Blauel,
said: “She has, since the release of the
film, suffered recurring nightmares, ag-
oraphobia, anxiety, depression, fear,
and has had to relive her past constant-
ly. The publication of the memoir exac-
erbated these symptoms.”
Sir Elton’s legal team denied breaching
the agreement, arguing that the details
in the book and film were public know-
ledge and that the contract “applies only
to private and confidential matters”.
Jonathan Ames Legal Editor
Starkey inquiry
on hold after
public backlash
over free speech
said yesterday: “On Monday, October
12, a senior officer was appointed to
conduct a review of the investigation to
ensure it remains proportionate and
that all appropriate lines of inquiry are
being considered. Whilst this process
takes place, two scheduled interviews
have been postponed. We remain in
contact with the CPS.”
Mr Grimes said yesterday: “This vex-
atious claim against me should never
have been investigated. At a time when
many have been propelled into misery
as a consequence of the lockdown
strategy, it is a gross abuse of taxpayer
cash and police time.”
Dr Starkey released a statement on
Tuesday defending Mr Grimes. He said
that the focus of the investigation into
his interviewer was “unfortunate and
grossly unfair”.
In July the historian, who specialises
in the Tudors, issued a lengthy apology.
He claimed that his “principal regret”
was that his “blundering use of
language” could endanger people’s
right to freedom of speech.
In the wake of a significant backlash
to the interview, Dr Starkey resigned
his honorary fellowship at Fitzwilliam
College, Cambridge University.
Canterbury Christ Church University
terminated his role as visiting professor,
calling his comments “completely un-
acceptable”. The public order offence
carries a maximum penalty of seven
years in prison.
Toby Young, general secretary
of the Free Speech Union, who
has supported Mr Grimes, said
he was alarmed that the police
embarked on the “witch-hunt”.
He said: “Dr David Starkey’s
words never came anywhere
near meeting the
threshold for stir-
ring up racial
hatred, let alone
Darren Grimes’s
decision to
broadcast them.
“If you don’t
stick up for the
speech rights
of contrarians
— even those
who offend
people — the
authorities will
eventually come
after you.”
Fiona Hamilton Crime Editor
Emma Yeomans
A
married police
officer accused
of murdering
his lover was
filmed on
police bodycams sobbing,
“God, she’s got kids” and
“what’s my mother going
to say?”, a court has been
told (Will Humphries
writes).
PC Tim Brehmer, 41, is
alleged to have strangled
Claire Parry, his lover of
ten years, after she used
his phone to send a text
to his wife saying: “I'm
cheating on you.”
He was found in a pub
car park with wounds to
his arm after stabbing
himself with a penknife,
Salisbury crown court
heard. Brehmer was said
to be inconsolable and
told paramedics, “I’ve
f***ed up” and “she was
going to tell my wife”.
The court heard that
paramedics treating Mrs
Parry, a married nurse
with two children, said
that they managed to “get
her back” temporarily.
Brehmer is accused of
throttling Mrs Parry, 41,
in his car with such force
that he broke a bone in
her neck while outside
the Horns Inn in West
Parley, Dorset, on May 9.
He claims he was
“simply robustly trying to
get her out of the car”. He
denies murder but has
admitted manslaughter.
The court was told that
when Mrs Parry learnt
that Brehmer had other
lovers, she planned with
another woman to tell his
wife and cause the “long
and slow downfall of Mr
manwhore Brehmer”.
The jury viewed the
police video, which
showed Brehmer as he
was asked what had
happened. He sobbed:
“We’ve been having an
affair for years. She
forced me to meet her,
she was going to tell my
wife, I was going to lose
my boy.” In the back of
an ambulance, Brehmer
says: “She wouldn’t get
out of the car, I just
wanted to go and kill
myself.”
The court heard that
Brehmer, of Dorset
police, had a series of
lovers and was said to
have told each one “you
are the only one for me”.
Detective Constable
Kate Rhodes, a former
lover, said Brehmer was
“a groomer who has a
tool kit he uses on every
woman he encounters”.
The trial continues.
What will
my mother
say, sobbed
killer PC
Tim Brehmer was filmed in
an ambulance after the
death of Claire Parry, top.
Above, the officer on duty
Darren Grimes
was investigated
after broadcasting
David Starkey’s
comments