Nat West Three - Public Relations Campaign in Britain

Public Relations Campaign in Britain

Press coverage of the Three in Britain was initially mostly negative, focusing on the amount of money the men had gained and their extravagant lifestyles. For example, The Independent wrote that the men saw themselves as "womanising buccanneers who played as hard and as fast as they pursued their deals" and The Sunday Times described Mulgrew as "fiercely competitive" with "a massive ego" and "scars on his arms" from his former career as a nightclub bouncer. The tone of the reporting changed when the Three secured the services of Bell Yard Communications, a public relations firm which specialised in "public reputation management during times of corporate crisis or dispute", headed by Melanie Riley. Adrian Flook of the firm M: Communications was also involved. Both firms claimed to be working pro bono. Riley said that "I have been working pro bono for the last six months because I believe in the case. We have worked hard to ensure that people understood the inequity of the Extradition Act."

Guardian journalist Nick Davies, in his book Flat Earth News, described the strategy adopted by Bell Yard:

According to some of those involved, when Bell Yard took on the case of the three bankers, its founder, Melanie Riley, rapidly saw the story she wanted. Fleet Street must stop talking about the alleged guilt and extravagance of these three men and must focus instead on one single aspect of their case, the new Extradition Act under whose terms the three men now faced trial in Texas.

Davies later recounted the reaction of the press:

The media could have refused to go along with Bell Yard’s strategy. In practice, they went for it, like a baby fastening on a teat. Melanie Riley pushed the story personally with journalists from every publication and broadcast outlet. The suspects became victims of the law. The stories about high-living womanisers became features about family men, worried about their children. The former bouncer and his cronies became “the NatWest Three” with its echo of the wrongly convicted Guildford Four and Birmingham Six.

Riley summed up her strategy as follows:

"Originally we focused on a political and civil liberties audience. ... But we moved the issue on to focus on the impact it would have on the business community in particular."

M: Communications co-founder Nick Miles added:

"It is not a matter of whether or not they are guilty – although they have always expressed their innocence... Our role was to convince editors of the validity of our argument: that Britain's new extradition laws have anomalies."

An article in the Financial Times also highlighted the achievements of the public relations team:

believe that the main achievement of the campaign has been to highlight their side's view of the inequality of the extradition arrangements. But perhaps even more of an achievement is that the public perception of the three has been turned from that of apparently wealthy bankers, alleged to have been involved in an £11m fraud and attempting to escape justice, to deeply wronged men being ripped from the bosoms of their families, destined for servitude in a vile penitentiary.

The Three feature as victims of British justice in the £500,000 documentary Taking Liberties, made by Bermingham's film finance acquaintance.