Benjamin Pell

Activities

An adherent of Orthodox Judaism who was once a trainee lawyer,{{cite journal

Pell began his activities in uncovering discarded newsworthy documents, classified as theft, around 1997. The documents he found have been involved in several court cases and led to many newspaper stories, including ones involving Elton John, All Saints and the 'cash for questions' libel case between Mohamed Al-Fayed and Neil Hamilton.{{cite journal

For seven years, Pell monitored Justice Eady, sitting in on all his cases and forensically analysing his every judgement. Pell said: "Court 13 is not Eady's domain, it's my domain. I hope Eady is terrified of me. He should be."

Documentary and court cases

Pell was the subject of a Channel 4 television documentary Scandal in the Bins (2000) produced by Victor Lewis-Smith. Another documentary—reportedly in production at around the same time—produced by Iain Jones, led Pell to claim in 2001 that John Mappin had fraudulently misrepresented his claim to be able to make a movie about Pell, and had "hoodwinked" him out of nearly £80,000. The following year Pell successfully sued Mappin, whose family founded the Mappin & Webb jewellery firm, and recovered his £77,750; Mappin had said he could commission a "well-connected Hollywood film-maker", but Jones had turned out to be a hairdresser. The court ordered Mappin to pay Pell's legal costs and interest on the money he had been given. According to an interview Pell gave at this time, he ended his regular bin-searching activity in February 2001.

Damages

In 2003, he won damages of £125,000 in an out-of-court settlement from the Sunday Express, which had falsely accused him of providing the IRA with information,{{cite journal

Later life

Pell was regularly found during the 2000s in the Royal Courts of Justice taking notes on libel trials, in which he has a particular interest, and is well known to the King's Bench jurists. From June 2017, following the Grenfell Tower fire he took an active interest in the issue of unsafe cladding on high-rise tower blocks affecting 500,000 residents in the UK, using the tribunal system to complain about issues with the building in Slough where he lives.

Death of brother

His older brother, Daniel (Dany), was killed in a road accident aged 21. In reference to this, he once said, "Everything I was asked to do, I would have to do double. It was a sort of way of compensating for the loss of my brother".

References and sources

References

Sources

• Tim Adams. "Benjamin Pell Versus the Rest of the World" , Granta, 87:21 (2004)

References

1. Tom Leonard [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1388476/Benji-the-Binman-cleans-up.html "Benji the Binman cleans up"], telegraph.co.uk, 22 March 2002
2. (21 July 2011). "'I should be licensed to be the eyes and ears of the public', says Benjie Pell". [[The Times]].
3. Steven Moss [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/dec/12/hamiltonvalfayed.stevenmorris "Fayed 'paid for stolen papers'"], ''The Guardian'', 12 December 2000
4. Steve Boggan [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/hacker-stole-secrets-of-stars-from-dustbins-1150016.html "Hacker stole secrets of stars from dustbins"], ''The Independent'', 14 March 1998
5. Pierre Perrone [https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/arts-sorry-seems-to-be-the-hardest-word-1159783.html "Arts: Sorry seems to be the hardest word"], ''The Independent'', 13 May 1998
6. Andrew Pugh [http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/node/48472 "Morgan urges Leveson to show more balance to press"] {{webarchive. link. (14 May 2013 , ''Press Gazette'', 21 March 2011)
7. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-16274015 "Leveson Inquiry: I used Benji the binman, says Piers Morgan"], BBC News, 20 December 2011. Morgan admits this is unethical behaviour in his book ''The Insider: The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade'' (London: Ebury Press, 2005, p. 185-86). In the clip, [[Robert Jay]]'s cites this passage during his questioning of Morgan at the Inquiry.
8. (29 November 2011). "Leveson inquiry: Nick Davies, Paul McMullan and Richard Peppiatt appear". The Guardian.
9. O'Carroll, Lisa. (20 December 2011). "Leveson inquiry: Piers Morgan gives evidence". The Guardian.
10. (26 July 2009). "Watch out Desmond, Benji the Binman is still after you". The Independent.
11. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130930195639/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b845d5885 "Scandal in the Bins"], BFI Film Forever
12. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0989704/ "''Scandal in the Bins'' (2000)"], IMDb
13. Conal Walsh [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/may/06/conalwalsh.theobserver "Binman Benji sues jewellery empire heir"], ''The Observer'', 6 May 2001
14. Tom Leonard [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1388275/Benji-the-Binman-wins-back-77500.html "Benji the Binman wins back £77,500"], ''The Daily Telegraph'', 20 March 2002
15. Dan Milmo [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/mar/19/pressandpublishing "'Benji the binman' wins fraud claim"], ''The Guardian'', 19 March 2002
16. Gibb, Frances. (31 October 2019). "Benji 'the Binman' Pell's fight over Grenfell-style cladding". [[The Times]].