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Waugh’s explosion in court
SIR: I thoroughly enjoyed A N Wilson’s memories of Auberon Waugh (March issue) and his piece reminded me of the only time I came across Waugh, which was at the committal proceedings in November 1978 against Jeremy Thorpe and three other men for conspiracy to murder the male model Noman Scott.
I was a young reporter on the Western Morning News and had gone to the committal at Minehead, with the rest of the press pack, expecting to be able to report just the bare details. We were all aghast when George Deakin, one of the accused, applied for reporting restrictions to be lifted, meaning every word could be reported.
Auberon Waugh was there to get material for his book – about Thorpe’s full trial, which came later at the Old Bailey – and although only in his late thirties appeared to this then young hack to be already
