Duncan Campbell



Profile:


Full name: Duncan Campbell (pls. note: sometimes confused with Duncan Campbell the investigative journalist)

Area of interest: Crime, law, security, justice, intelligence

Journals: The Guardian

Email: [mailto:duncan.campbell@guardian.co.uk duncan.campbell@guardian.co.uk]

Website: Guardian.co / Duncan Campbell

Blog: Comment is free...

Representation: PFD



Biography:
Education: Edinburgh University

Career: Before a media career worked as a copywriter in London, Puerto Rico and Hong Kong and as a school-teacher in Natal, South Africa...
 * see - Guardian profile
 * London Daily News (defunct); City Limits (defunct); Time Out magazine; LBC Radio; The Guardian: Los Angeles correspondent, crime correspondent, senior correspondent, 1987-present

Current position/role: Senior correspondent


 * also writes/has written for:

Other roles:

Other activities:

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight: How I found myself in India - His friends told him that, at 26, he was too old to go on the hippy trail to India, but in 1971 Duncan Campbell quit his job and headed for the subcontinent to see what would happen. He didn't know it, but he stumbled into a war and the opportunity to pursue a long-cherished dream - to become a journalist - 16th July 2008

TV/Radio:

Video: Presenter: Radio 5 Live's Crimedesk, What the Papers Say, Newsnight, various documentaries

Controversy/Criticism:

Awards/Honours: Newspaper Journalist of the Year, Bar Council, 1992/3

Other: Married to actress Julie Christie



Books & Debate:

 * Billy Connolly: The authorised version, ed. Duncan Campbell OCLC 2965049, 1976
 * That was business, this is personal: the changing face of professional crime OCLC82528913, 1989
 * The underworld OCLC59982863, 1994 (the story of modern British crime)
 * A stranger and afraid: The story of Caroline Beale OCLC39934184, 1997
 * The paradise trail OCLC181422685, 2008 (Duncan's first novel)

✒Duncan's page at Amazon✒

Latest work:If it bleeds, Headline, 2009

Speaking/Appearances:

Current debate: 

The Guardian:

 * no column

Column name:

Remit/Info:

Section:

Role: Senior correspondent

Pen-name:

Email:

Website: Guardian.co / Duncan Campbell

Commissioning editor:

Day published:

Regularity:

Column format:

Average length:


 * also a regular contributor to Comment is free... on legal issues



Articles: 2011
The police chief's memoir would be a fascinating account of why the Met is at the heart of the phone-hacking scandal - 18th July
 * Paul Stephenson's resignation: the former Met boss has a tale to tell'' -
 * the painful task of cleaning up the Metropolitan police begins'' - Now that officers have been prepared to jeopardise inquiries for personal gain, Sir Paul Stephenson must root out Met corruption - 8th July
 * the law is a legacy an odious killer doesn't merit'' - However repulsive the courtroom defence of Milly Dowler's murderer was, justice cannot mean limiting suspects' rights - 27th June
 * law's blunt instrument'' - A parliamentary report has concluded that the European arrest warrant is in dire need of reform – about time too - 23rd June
 * must help Vanunu live in peace'' - Nuclear 'hero' Mordechai Vanunu wants to obey Israeli law, to stop being an Israeli. The UK has an obligation to him - 6th June
 * Davis is (finally) innocent'' - With his conviction quashed, George Davis can now move on. Meanwhile, hundreds of others face a long wait for justice - 24th May
 * and the McCanns'' - A Met review buys easy headlines for the prime minister, yet cuts mean other victims have no help - 14th May
 * Tomlinson verdict: the people defer no more'' - The Ian Tomlinson jury showed how radically public views of the police have changed - 4th May
 * this extradition'' - Newly released evidence of hacker Gary McKinnon's Asperger's must surely persuade parliament to protect him - 16th March
 * Morgan was murdered. Now it seems justice is dead too'' - After five police investigations, the latest of which has just ground to a halt, a case awash with clues and motives is no nearer being solved - 13th March
 * forget Bradley Manning'' - It would cruel if the private accused of leaking US security files to WikiLeaks suffers because little attention is paid to his plight - 8th March
 * costa's lost its crime'' - British crooks looking for a safe haven abroad are finding it's not so easy to evade the long arm of the law - 26th February



Articles: 2010

 * McKinnon needs coalition to stand up to US bullying'' - WikiLeaks cable shows the US rebuffed a sensible solution in the case of the harmless computer hacker - 30th November
 * the first rough draft of history'' - Coverage of Linda Norgrove's death reminds us the first official reports of a major incident can be inaccurate and self-serving - 13th October
 * Nick! Free at last'' - Clegg's website wants our say on laws to scrap. The consensus: most of them – and legalise those drugs - 2nd July
 * McKinnon case is a litmus test for the new government'' - In opposition, David Cameron and Nick Clegg showed strong support for the hacker's rights. Now is their chance to act - 20th May
 * lessons of Blair Peach'' - The publication of the report into Blair Peach's death is welcome. Let the dangers of elite-force policing now be recognised - 28th April
 * our duty to speak up'' - The absurd persecution of nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu did not relent on his release - 2nd January



Articles: 2009

 * Castro, CIA spy'' - Ahead of a UN vote on the Cuban embargo, it is revealed that Fidel's sister worked for the CIA. What did they gain from her? - 27th October
 * right by Gary McKinnon'' - The home secretary can act with decency by coming to the aid of the underdog hacker facing bullying by the US courts - 10th October
 * who arrested Roman Polanski have ignored his victim'' - Duncan Campbell: The woman sexually assaulted as a child will suffer even more if the case comes to court. Only the lawyers will win - 29th September
 * help the other innocent prisoners'' - Jack Straw has pardoned Michael Shields, but many other miscarriages of justice need his attention - 10th September
 * for the devil'' - Jack Straw's harsh ruling on Biggs is all the more alarming in light of his past compassion for Pinochet - 3rd July
 * Labour can't protect people like Gary McKinnon, it really stands for nothing'' - Alan Johnson must act: anyone who believes in the principles of justice would be alarmed by this state bullying of a hacker - 9th June
 * pathology of the truth'' - The second postmortem's revelation is a salutary lesson in the untrustworthiness of the official version of Ian Tomlinson's death - 18th April
 * policing review is the inspector's call'' - The review into public order policing tactics in the wake of the G20 protests will test where Denis O'Connor's loyalties lie - 16th April
 * Menezes taught the Met nothing'' - Footage of a police assault on Ian Tomlinson at the G20 demo, moments before he died, suggests their tactics are dangerously wrong - 7th April
 * The fate of Gary McKinnon - While Binyam Mohamed has been returned to the UK, it seems likely we will offer up another British citizen to the US - 26th February 2009
 * What now for Gary McKinnon? - Dozens of MPs reject the extradition of a hacker with Asperger's syndrome, but his fate is not in their hands - 31st January 2009
 * What now for Gary McKinnon? - Dozens of MPs reject the extradition of a hacker with Asperger's syndrome, but his fate is not in their hands - 31st January 2009
 * A policeman's lot - Everyone is said to be happy with Sir Paul Stephenson's appointment, but his in-tray is already bulging - 28th January 2009
 * by curveballs'' - Baseball metaphors are meaningless to most of us. It's time we hit them into the long grass - 19th January 2009
 * Remembering Che - Along with Steven Soderbergh's biopic come all the old arguments about Guevara's legacy - 1st January 2009



Articles: 2008

 * real bank robbers'' - Ronnie Biggs and City financiers have so much in common - apart from the matter of punishment - 23rd December 2008
 * When travesty becomes tragedy - Trial by tabloid and police errors framed Colin Stagg for the murder of Rachel Nickell, while Robert Napper went free - 18th December 2008
 * A sentence of bitter irony - How else to describe a ruling that deprives the Chagossians of a right of return so the US can use Diego Garcia for 'renditions'? - 22nd october 2008
 * ‘It's a form of torture’ - In 1998, five Cuban men were arrested for infiltrating groups in the US that were plotting attacks on Cuba. They have not received a fair trial and two have not seen their families since. Duncan Campbell reports - 6th October 2008
 * Is it possible to live for a year without lying? - The philosopher Immanuel Kant believed that telling lies was always morally wrong. But is it possible to live without telling a single lie for a whole year? - 6th October 2008
 * Beyond experimentation - There'll soon be a former dope smoker in the White House. But will politicians ever grasp the nettle of drug reform? - 2nd October 2008
 * Our citizens, their law - It is time to assert the rights of British people to enjoy a fair trial, free from bogus security innuendo - 29th August 2008
 * Cops and bombers - Hugh Orde, the Northern Ireland police chief denounced for advocating talks with terrorists, is not backing down. Could he soon be running the Met? - 16th August 2008
 * Assume nothing - Barry George's acquittal reminds us that the days of miscarriages of justice are far from over - 4th August 2008
 * cracked code'' - US courts can guarantee little justice for a curious British hacker who now faces trial as a terrorist - 1st August 2008
 * The cost of curiosity - Gary McKinnon is no terrorist – he's a UFO nerd. And the US would be wise to give him a job - 31st July 2008
 * The ghosts of the past - The Chagos islanders' fight for justice could restore some ethics to Labour's foreign policy - 28th June 2008
 * Son of supergrass - The law lords are right: offering total anonymity to witnesses creates a serious legal hazard - 24th June 2008
 * A source for concern - This week's court case involving police demands for a journalist's notes is seen as the latest example of a threat to media freedom - 19th May 2008
 * Below the line - There is no evidence for the UN's statement that celebrity drug users are treated leniently, so why did they include it in an official report - 6th March 2008
 * The drug laws don't work - The real 'softies' are the politicians who refuse to engage in a sober debate on cannabis - 4th February 2008
 * A blind eye to terror - Violent acts committed by Cuban exiles prompted the 'Cuban Five' to travel to the US. Now they are in jail with little hope of release - 11th January 2008



Articles: 2007

 * Deadheads rule OK - Brown may have made mistakes since becoming PM, but his decision to appoint a Grateful Dead fan as head of security is to be applauded - 16th November 2007
 * Bad timing - Michael Mansfield believes the new forensic lead in the Lawrence inquiry was leaked to make the Met look good. But the theory doesn't stack up - 9th November 2007
 * Growing our own - Panic about a crime wave among migrants conveniently ignores our own shameful exports - 20th September 2007
 * Guns and poses - Young gang members are turning on each other with guns, but do they have any concept of what they are doing when they pull the trigger - 8th August 2007
 * Detention lessons - Post-charge questioning might have saved the Guildford Four from badly miscarried justice - 30th July 2007
 * Did Yates fly too close to the sun? - Once again the Met's assistant commisioner has been involved in a spactacular case that has collapsed, but he appears to have no regrets - 20th July 2007
 *  Punishment or vengeance? - Mordechai Vanunu served a prison sentence of 18 years, emerging in 2004. So why is the Israeli government sending him back again? - 5th July 2007
 * To fry the smallest fish - A recent case suggests that the war on terror has been superseded by the war on embarrassment - 12th May 2007
 * Ultimate absurdity - Charging victims of miscarriages of justice for their board and lodging in prison is a gross insult - 17th March 2007
 * One-line genius - Is it the joke that's funny - or the way that you tell it? - There has been much coverage of the competing claims of biologist Richard Dawkins and comedian Peter Kay for this month's Galaxy British Book Awards. Dawkins has been nominated for The God Delusion, and Kay for The Sound of Laughter - 16th March 2007
 * The same old songs - There is a gaping hole for a new anti-war anthem that will capture the moment and the mood - 24th February 2007
 * Help with inquiries - The police and politicians often leak information when suspects are held, but we should be wary - 1st February 2007
 * In the heart of Babylon - For binge drinking, veiled women and bad behaviour, London has long been the capital - 6th January 2007



news & updates:

 * Duncan Campbell and David Hencke among those leaving Guardian - Long-serving reporters among departing journalists as part of Guardian News & Media's voluntary redundancy programme - Stephen Brook, The Guardian, 19th June 2009



Links:

 * Wikipedia biog