Is the popular press´s sneering at Colin Stagg more to do with his 'oddness', or how he proved them wrong?

Question

See the News of the World gleefully told readers about him taking some of his seven-hundred thousand pound compensation to Matalan, and a couple of reporters from other papers sneering at his joy of compensation. If anyone can remember how the British press lambasted him, with a few made-up stories of their own, then I´m sure many people will be glad also of his compensation - of course, he could have uttered his joy less loudly...but as we were told after he was picked up after the killing of Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common - he was a 'loner', 'unemployed', 'a wierdie'. And that was before they moved up a gear and turned him into the most hated man in the UK. No wonder the Londoncentric press are all sulky - whoever awarded Mr. Stagg his compo must have had the press firmly in mind - hence them deciding to carry on with their abuse.

Answer 1

I saw some columnist having a go at him for saying that his compensation win was like winning the lottery, claiming that he was being insensitive to Rachel Nickell's family. Maybe it wasn't completely sensitive but at the end of the day this man's life has been ruined and his name has been dragged through the mud for years even after he was cleared. What he actually said was that although it is like a lottery win for him, it was never about the money but rather about clearing his name, and I believe that is true. It's a shame the press still can't leave him alone.

Answer 2

The media have also resorted to comparing his compensation to that  the families of victims of the 7/7 London bombings were awarded. With respect you have to compare like-for-like. Anything to bring someone even further down, the media should be ashamed of the way they carry on sometimes

Answer 3

That's pathetic, where do most of the readers of the News of the World shop?  I know I shop there sometimes (Primark is closer to me), but I wouldn't lower myself to reading that rag, its not even worth recycling into toilet paper.  

The police were under pressure from the likes of this paper when this terrible murder was committed and that is part of the reason they jumped on the person who stuck out like a sore thumb.  

Compensation won't give him back the years he spent in prison, or his name being ruined, but it will help him know that he was right to protest his innocence rather than be quiet when it seemed like the whole world believed his guilt.

Answer 4

I remember how they destroyed him . The British press should be ashamed of themselves . But they are all hypocrites anyway . And they are only happy when they are ruining someones life . Anything to sell a paper  He should stick two fingers up to the lot of them  

Answer 5

I always knew that Colin.Stagg.was innocent.you could tell his body language,at that time.He was angry,and shouting,etc.he deserves the money.mary.c.PS.I go to Matalan often.mens sports gear,is very good,and cheap.mary.c.

Answer 6

Knowing what the UK press is like, it's probably a mixture of both.

I've never thought of Matalan as a "lower class" store - it just seems to sell normal clothes at normal prices. But then I don't really know what "middle class" and "lower class" means - maybe it means something if you live in London and earn a hundred grand a year like these overpaid, over-opinionated "journalists" do.

I suppose the journos are wondering why he didn't rush straight to Bond Street and dress himself from head to toe in expensive bling. Maybe Stagg is a modest man who has different priorities in life. I suppose if you're the editor of a rag like the News of the World, you don't really know the meaning of modest.

Stagg deserved every penny anyway, good luck to him.

Answer 7

It's a bit of both.  You may not actually want to go out for a pint with Mr Stagg, but that would be true of millions of other people.  He didn't do anything.  He was picked up by the police in a sting operation, it was thrown out of court, the press wrote bollocks about him, as the press do and now he's got a whacking load of compensation.  Yes, it does seem too much money, but you're probably right in saying that the press' attempt to ruin his life was taken into consideration.