Claire Swire

["Mark McCall" <mark@xxxxxxx>]

Just read this on BBC News site..

E-mail woman in hiding

The young woman behind a revealing
e-mail seen by millions is still in hiding as
fivetop law firm employees accused of
circulatingit await their fate.
Reporters have tracked down Claire
Swire'sfamily home, where her
parentsspoke of their embarrassment.
Five workers based at the Norton Rose
firmin London face disciplinary action
whenthey return to work on Monday.
They could even be dismissed for their
allegedpart in distributing the e-mail
containingan apparently off-the-cuff
sexualremark by Miss Swire.
It was added on 7 December to an e-
mailoriginally consisting of two smutty
jokessent to a tiny group of people.
Within hours it had spread from Norton
Roseto other prestigious London law
firmsbefore making its way across the
worldas far as New Zealand.
More than a week later, as newspapers
scrambledto report details of the
salaciousincident, the 26-year-old
originatorwas forced to ground.
At the family home in Uckfield, East
Sussex,her parents spoke of their
disbeliefat the interest generated by
herindiscretion.
Miss Swire's mother said: "She is
horrifiedby all this.
"She has gone into hiding. I don't
blameher. Would you stick around
aftersomething like that?"
But that has done little to dampen
enthusiasmfor the story or the search
forthe woman.
An unrelated company, where an
employeeshares the same name, has
reported140 times the normal hits on
itswebsite.
One national newspaper speculated on
thesmall fortune the victim could
makefrom her new-found notoriety.
Another printed a large transcript of
thee-mail exchange with incriminating
sectionsblacked out.
A men's magazine has reportedly
offeredher a job, saying she would
make a"fantastic" agony aunt or sex
columnist.
At least two dedicated websites have
beenset up - including reader polls,
latestnews and chat forums - and one
reportsthat a Sunday newspaper has
boughtMiss Swire's story.
The saga began nine days ago when
shesent the two jokes without
comment tofriends, including her
boyfriend.
She then followed it up with a
messagesent solely to him, containing
explicitdetails of a sexual act between
them.
At the end of her e-mail, she typed
thatshe was getting a "funny picture
in myhead, giggling out loud" and
having toexplain what was so funny to
a workcolleague.
The recipient - now labelled a "rat" by
onenewspaper - forwarded the e-mail
tosix friends with the comment: "Now
THAT'Sa nice compliment from a lass,
isn'tit?"
One of the recipients felt "honour
bound" to circulate it further and the
e-mail's distribution spiralled.
As it was forwarded to millions
commentsincluded "what a top lass
let's start acampaign to find her".
Others said "one of the best e-mails
I'veseen in yonks! Hunt her down!"
and "Iknow it's mean, but v funny...
poor girl!".
Disciplinary procedures
Eventually Norton Rose technical staff
alertedmanagers.
As soon as they realised internal rules
hadbeen broken the internal
disciplinaryprocedure was invoked, said
companyspokesman Bob McAfee.
After a two-hour hearing, the five law
workerswere told they would have to
waitover the weekend to find out
whetherthey still have their jobs.
Norton Rose's action came just two
monthsafter it spoke to BBC News
Onlineabout impending legislation
allowingfirms to monitor private staff
emails.
Tim Russell, an employment lawyer
withthe company, said it would take a
courtcase before it was clear what
companiescould and could not do
under theRegulation of Investigatory
Powers Act.


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