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Angela Haggerty Graham Spiers the Herald

Herald Rangers row: Editor says legal threat led to columnists' exit

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By Tony Connelly | Sports Marketing Reporter

January 29, 2016 | 3 min read

The Herald's editor-in-chief Magnus Llewellin has offered his reasons for the controversial departures of two columnists over an article related to Rangers football club.

Magnus Llewellin journalist sacking over rangers story
Magnus Llewellin

Magnus Llewellin journalist sacking over rangers story

Magnus Llewellin

Sunday Herald columnist and former reporter for The Drum, Angela Haggerty, was sacked after showing her support for colleague and sports reporter, Graham Spiers, who departed following pressure for a column he wrote in which he questioned “the mettle” of the current Rangers board in tackling offensive chanting.

Llewellin (pictured) issued a statement to The Drum insisting that while one of the newspaper's advertisers was on the board at Rangers this “was never an issue and we shall continue to report and comment on the pressing issues of the day without fear or favour”.

Rangers supporters took issue with Spiers’ article which stated that an unnamed Rangers director admitted that he thought The Billy Boys was “a great song”.

Following Haggerty’s sacking and Spiers’ departure Llewellin said that the claims made in Spiers’ 30 December 2015 article “presented a legal issue which had to be addressed and which was discussed at length, by all parties involved.”

“The issue was whether we could defend in court a contentious statement and the advice given was that we could not. Finally, on clear legal advice, we were left with no option other than to apologise and seek to draw a line under the matter," Llewellin said.

He continued: “After the apology was published we had to abide by it and the spirit in which it was published. Unfortunately that apology was then undermined and we had to take appropriate action.

“Our titles have a long history of supporting quality journalism and defending free speech and robust comment. This made all the more difficult the action we had to take.”

The columnists' departures was criticised by the National Union of Journalists which described the Herald as "pandering to the mob".

Angela Haggerty Graham Spiers the Herald

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