Celebrity sex witch-hunt rolling out of control

The question is: who's next? Will it be one of the two former Labour ministers, or another television presenter? Or perhaps another internationally known pop star will be named as the subject of a police inquiry into serious sexual offences, his picture emblazoned across British newspaper front pages, the press pack camped on his doorstep.

What is certain is that in the wake of the Pete Townshend and Matthew Kelly cases this week, it is only a matter of time before the identity of the next celebrity suspect is leaked to the media and the cycle of naming and shaming will begin again.

It is a cycle that follows a familiar pattern: the first hints in the tabloids of "a well-known name" linked to paedophilia or child porn. Then, one media outlet is brave or foolish enough to use the name - and suddenly it's open season on that person's private life and public work.

Then comes the high-profile arrest, a media scrum and the popping of a thousand flashbulbs.

In some cases - Gary Glitter and Jonathan King, for example - the accused are guilty of awful crimes. But other cases - such as that of David Jones, former Southampton Football Club manager - where individuals are cleared by a jury but must live with the stigma for the rest of their lives, raise serious questions about whether there are enough safeguards in place in the media and the justice system to protect the reputations of the innocent.

Whatever the outcome of the Townshend and Kelly cases, for the rest of their lives both men will see events of the past few days revisited every time their names are mentioned in the media. At the same time, if either of these cases does reach court, can they be guaranteed a fair trial?

Townshend is reported to have said last weekend that although he hasn't been charged with anything he thinks he's ruined.

The case of David Jones is a reminder of what can happen. In 1999, as manager of the Premiership club Southampton, he was arrested by Merseyside detectives investigating child abuse allegations - part of the nationwide inquiry into abuse in care homes in the 1970s and 1980s. He had worked in care homes in his native Merseyside.

A popular man in the football business, he endured 18 months of personal and professional turmoil before the charges were dropped in December 2000 when one of his accusers refused to give evidence.

Dismissing the charges, the judge said: "There will be people who are going to think there is no smoke without fire ... Such an attitude would be wrong."

The judge's comments made little difference to his club, which did not offer him his old job back, or to those on the terraces who continue to chant insults at him at matches he now attends as manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Matters would be simpler if both the police and the British media behaved themselves. The media are well aware that the provisions of the Contempt of Court Act, which restrict the amount of background material that can be published, apply at the point of arrest and not, as is sometimes commonly supposed, at the point of charge.

The reluctance of Government law officers to take action against the media in all but a few high-profile cases and the tendency of judges to dismiss defence claims of prejudice at the outset of trials has given the media considerable licence.

This has allowed newspapers to cite examples of Townshend's work as showing his interest in child abuse. Townshend has claimed that his interest arises from being abused as a child and his campaigning against child abuse.

Although the Association of Chief Police Officers has warned all police forces that anyone under investigation, but not charged, should not be named, it is inevitable that famous names will unofficially leak out.

Scotland Yard has still not officially named Townshend as the man they have interviewed.

But it is likely that somewhere in the Metropolitan Police lies the source of the original story which prompted him to identify himself.

Kelly, 52, the host of Stars In Their Eyes, has been released on bail without charge after being questioned by police over allegations of sexual abuse against underage boys.

Kelly later issued a statement through his London law firm denying the allegations.

Police said he was arrested over allegations dating back to the 1970s of sexual abuse against boys under the age of 16.

- INDEPENDENT