ONLY the pitiless will gloat at the disgrace and downfall of former minister Jonathan Aitken, jailed for 18 months for perjury and perverting the course of justice.
But those who believe in justice will have a rightful sense of satisfaction - in that a powerful and influential man who tried to misuse the law for vengeance and gain was brought down by the law. The truth will out, the saying goes.
And when it does on occasions like this, it is a comfort to the campaigning press, which on occasions before has had the law of libel successfully wielded at them by opportunists and rogues such as Robert Maxwell.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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