British home secy’s son sold dope to scribe

PARIS, January 3: Scottish Irish and French media identified on Friday British Home Secretary Jack Straw as the minister whose 17-year-old s...

PARIS, January 3: Scottish Irish and French media identified on Friday British Home Secretary Jack Straw as the minister whose 17-year-old son has been arrested for alleged drug dealing.

The disclosure is considered particularly embarrassing for Straw, who has pushed himself as a hard-line champion of the struggle against juvenile crime.

The British media has been banned from naming Straw under legislation preventing the identification of any minor under the age of 18 who is involved in criminal proceedings.

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However, allusions to the minister’s identity in British newspapers have been increasingly transparent in recent days.

Straw’s son allegedly sold 1.92 grams (0.07 ounces) of cannabis resin to an undercover reporter from the Daily Mirror newspaper on Christmas Eve for 10 pounds (16 dollars).

As Home Secretary, Britain’s equivalent of Minister of the Interior, Straw is in charge of the country’s police force and criminal justice system.

Warned in advance of the tabloid’s intention to publish the incident, Straw reportedly took his son to the police to make a confession.

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Three Scottish newspapers — The Scotsman, The Daily Record and The Scottish Daily Mail — all identified Straw in their Friday editions, arguing that regional legislation freed them from the gagging order.

Scottish law sets 16 as the minimum age at which juvenile suspects can be identified. However, The Scotsman did not carry Straw’s name in editions sold in England. Irish television and the Irish Independent newspaper also identified Straw, as did the French daily France-Soir.