Ssb - john higgins case takes new twist

[snooky147]

There must be something wrong otherwise we would have here'd from him. hopefuly now they can contain the damage to the minimum this way.

When there is an investigation like this going on the best comment is no comment. I am sure he wants to reassure his fans but doing that will not help in any way. He has to keep quiet.

[Looki]

i've also not commented on any of the higgins stuff but why would the notw 'pick' him, out of all the other players? ronnie in particular i'd have thought. seen as he's the biggest name so to speak.

is there no smoke without fire?

opinions please.

John was reigning world champion, becoming world number 1 and his image is very clean, almost like a saint, no scandals.

Would make a great story for a piece of toilet paper like NOTW?

[Mignon]

opinions please.

I'm afraid you're a bit late. There have been loads of opinions and I'm sure there will be many more.
What I'm curious to know is this> has anyone -ANYONE- changed their initial point of view, which point of view generally comes down to believing or not believing in John's innocence, meaning being or not being a John Higgins fan?

[snoopy2608]

I think that since this was first reported the allegations have been weakened by the behaviour of the NOTW in not releasing information and wanting protection against lawsuits. (We should always remember that with newspapers justice and truth will always take 2nd place to sales)

If John has co-operated fully he will have strengthened his position - hopefully for his sake he will have acknowledged the stupidity of not reporting the meeting in Kiev.

for the record John is one of the players who I am fairly ambivalent to - I admire his ability and he seems like a good guy - when he plays my favourites (Ding, Ronnie, Maguire) I want him to lose when he plays my non-favourites (currently Ebdon, Murphy, Hendry, Day) I want him to win

[goldengirl]

John should just put in a million pound law suit against the NOTW and they'll probably settle out of court. Then he can get back to playing snooker - and hopefully will learn to stick to just that!!

[darrus]

According to this, NotW has handed over the tapes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/gree...-john-higgins?

[Migtsf]

Much has been made about these so called unedited tapes, as if whatever is in them could clean Higgins name of all wrongdoing.

From where I’m standing, the only thing that could clear his name now was if those unedited tapes contained proof of intimidation of some sort made by the reporters of the NOTW.

However, thinking about it I doubt there is such proof on those tapes, if in fact those actions happened at all.

I mean, these guys from the NOTW have set up a long, very expensive and elaborate sting and they have done such things several times and they have been doing them for quite some time now. There are professional “stingers”.

If in fact they used intimidating actions to get Higgins and Mooney to say what they said on video does anyone think they were stupid enough to have filmed those same actions?

My guess is if intimidation actions were used they were made with the cameras turned off or in places where there were no cameras at all.

Obviously the NOTW may be reluctant about showing the unedited tapes for other reasons, but it’s my opinion that Higgins and Mooney will not find salvation in those unedited tapes.

I don’t know if any of the investigators have been to Kiev asking questions to people in the places the sting took place, like the airport, the snooker clubs, the hotel, and so on. Maybe someone saw anything suspicious. Other than that I don’t see how the intimidating actions can be proved, unless someone from the NOTW confesses to have made them.

[jw147]

This is ebbing on for too long, so much for barry hearns 'dealt with quickly statement'. If it was a lesser known player, he would already be serving a 10 year ban.

[GOMH71]

This is ebbing on for too long, so much for barry hearns 'dealt with quickly statement'. If it was a lesser known player, he would already be serving a 10 year ban.

What ? Someone like Jamie Burnett, Stephen Maguire or Stephen Lee ? How is it that John Higgins is suspended on the flaky evidence of the NOTW yet the other three, who are deemed dodgy enough to warrant LONG Police investigations, are playing through all the furore ? One rule for all should be applied here, surely ? Innocent until proven guilty, nay ?

Don't kid yourselves, Hearn was happy to make waves in the direction of Mooney. Add to the fact that Snooker was all over every part of the press JUST as Bazza arrives and you've got it just like Bazza likes it. Storm-queller, sea-calmer, knight in shining armour etc etc

As ever, it's all a total load of sssshhhhhiiiiiittttteeeee ...

GOMH71 ...

[jw147]

Yes but they werent caught on video tape talking about fixing matches etc. Higgins was. Just face it, greed got the better of him and he got caught out. Simple as that.

[beechy1212]

What ? Someone like Jamie Burnett, Stephen Maguire or Stephen Lee ? How is it that John Higgins is suspended on the flaky evidence of the NOTW yet the other three, who are deemed dodgy enough to warrant LONG Police investigations, are playing through all the furore ? One rule for all should be applied here, surely ? Innocent until proven guilty, nay ?

Don't kid yourselves, Hearn was happy to make waves in the direction of Mooney. Add to the fact that Snooker was all over every part of the press JUST as Bazza arrives and you've got it just like Bazza likes it. Storm-queller, sea-calmer, knight in shining armour etc etc

As ever, it's all a total load of sssshhhhhiiiiiittttteeeee ...

GOMH71 ...

Disagree with most of this.

The Higgins case is different because he's been filmed alledgedly willing to take bribes. The others are under investigation. Suspicion is different to evidence.

However, all Snooker players should be treated the same, whether you are number 1 or 100 but in the cases you highlighted GOMH, there is a signifcant difference.

[GOMH71]

Disagree with most of this.

The Higgins case is different because he's been filmed alledgedly willing to take bribes. The others are under investigation. Suspicion is different to evidence.

However, all Snooker players should be treated the same, whether you are number 1 or 100 but in the cases you highlighted GOMH, there is a signifcant difference.

I'm sorry but Higgins has been treated appallingly. NONE of you know the context in what he said. NONE of you know the circumstances. The Police don't appear to be interested in prosecuting him, do they ? Why is that, do you think ?

The other cases have AT LEAST as much substance to them and Hearn knows it ...

GOMH71 ...

[beechy1212]

I'm sorry but Higgins has been treated appallingly. NONE of you know the context in what he said. NONE of you know the circumstances. The Police don't appear to be interested in prosecuting him, do they ? Why is that, do you think ?

The other cases have AT LEAST as much substance to them and Hearn knows it ...

GOMH71 ...

Fair points but may i also add that you don't know the context or cicumstances. I certainly don't think he's been treated appallingly. Lets not forget, innocent or gulity, Higgins has put himself intot this position. Obviously it's taking a long time but a very important issue needs dealing with properly and professionally. If he was treated appallingly, he would have been hung, drawn and quartered a while ago. It seems that everything is being studied, which is a good thing.

[Souwester]

The Police don't appear to be interested in prosecuting him, do they ? Why is that, do you think ?

The charge would appear to be conspiracy to commit defraud/deception... is mere conspiracy actually a criminal offence?

[snooky147]

The charge would appear to be conspiracy to commit defraud/deception... is mere conspiracy actually a criminal offence?

Yes, conspiracy is a criminal offence.