As we slowly begin to come to terms with the sudden and untimely death of Jim Lawton, his former sports editor at the Daily Express, DAVID EMERY, reveals how he persuaded him to become chief sports writer.

When I needed a helping hand… - The Rugby Paper

After two months, I told him I hated F1, it was too much of a clique, and I wanted to simply concentrate on being the rugby correspondent, which he had also gifted to me. He took me to Stamford’s wine bar across the road, and by the time we left, he had convinced me that journalism might not make me a millionaire but sometimes you could live like one, especially if you were doing Formula 1. The ruling means that in use of force self-defence cases involving police officers, it is the civil law test that should be applied in police disciplinary proceedings, rather than the criminal law test. The main difference is that under the civil law test, a person who uses force cannot rely on unreasonable mistakes when seeking to justify their use of force, whereas they can in criminal proceedings.He convinced me that journalism might not make me a millionaire but that sometimes you could live like one,’’ says Bob. “Emers had style. You never wanted to let him down.’’ Then Ben Johnson happened. Jim write his account of the failed drugs test and filed. Perhaps he was mindful of my earlier remarks and did not wish to over-react. Whatever, it wasn’t the piece I knew Jim had in his heart. Somebody may have been trying to tell him something, that a bigger, better plan had been mapped out for him, a scheme so grandiose that it guaranteed him a ringside seat at major events across the world, at someone else’s expense. Best of all, he would be paid to be there.

He was the biggest influence on so many Fleet Street careers

In 1969, Hemery won a silver at the European Championships in the 110m hurdles, but missed the next European Championships in 1971 due to injury. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Hemery defended his title and finished third, behind John Akii-Bua from Uganda and Ralph Mann from the United States. He was also a member of the silver medal-winning British 4 × 400 m relay team, one of whose members was David Jenkins. David was, of course, also a talented, authoritative writer on a wide variety of sports, with an easy-to read style, a feel for a bon mot, but never a candidate for ‘Pseuds Corner’. You’ve got me wearing Bermuda shorts. I’d never be improperly dressed while working for the Express Now friend Shanee Boardman has set up the appeal to support his family with funeral costs and other expenses. Jim was at Hillsborough for the disaster. He was unshakeable in his belief from the start. The police had made tragic errors.Agassi survived the drama of the first round – and then drew headlines across the nation as he reached the French Open final. As a recently retired athlete, Hemery was free to participate in the professional Superstars contests and keep any prize money he won – unlike many other competitors (like Kjell Isaksson or Andy Ripley). Noticing the very high standard of competition within a short time of the event starting, Hemery created his own training regime, becoming adept at the gymnasium tests and canoeing and propelling himself into national fame. Just two days later, 20 September, Board lined up for Great Britain in the 4 × 400 m relay. Running the last leg, she came from ten metres down entering the home straight to beat her old rival Besson, who was anchoring the French squad, in a dramatic photo finish, not only winning gold for Britain but also helping to set a new world record of 3:30.8. Having claimed two gold medals, it was no surprise that she was named as 'Best Woman Athlete in the Games'. [19] The relay team, featuring Board, Rosemary Stirling, Pat Lowe and Janet Simpson, was the first British team to win that title at the competition. Whilst we have welcomed many of the reforms to the disciplinary system over the past decade, it remains very complex and opaque. We agree with the Court that a return to fundamental principles is essential. That’s why we have called for radical reform to the whole system, including exploring the creation of a ‘fitness to practise(link is external)’ model which would set a national standard for what is expected of police officers.” I never knew Lillian Board or her exploits but she sounds like a wonderful talent taken from us too soon.

David Emery - The University of Sydney Professor David Emery - The University of Sydney

The Supreme Court expressed concern about the amount of law and guidance surrounding police use of force and noted it had resulted in ‘unnecessary complexity’. This judgment does not mean that officers will be held to an impossible standard, that they can’t make mistakes or that hindsight will be unfairly used against them. The Supreme Court judgment simply means that officers can’t rely on unreasonable mistakes when justifying their use of force. Was an old-school, inquisitive, gregarious journalist …..forever grateful that he used his position to take a chance on young people In 1960, at the age of 11, Lillian and her sister moved to Grange Secondary Modern Girls' School, also in Ealing and now part of The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls. It was here in 1961 that Physical Education teacher Sue Gibson (a Middlesex county discus champion) spotted that Lillian, now aged 12, had a special talent for running. She took her to join London Olympiades, the leading all-female athletics club, which had a training base at Alperton, north-west London. Here she competed in relays and 100 and 150-yard sprints. [3] Speaking at the time, Miss Boardman said: "He was the type of person who everyone on the street would go to for help. If any of the kids on the estate had a puncture on their bike they'd go to Cheeky - they all absolutely loved him.It won acclaim everywhere. It also earned him his first Sports Writer of the Year award. I suspect he rang Linda from Seoul that night. RELATED ARTICLES There were those lunches in that Chinese restaurant across the road from the Express, for which we span the wheel to see who would pay the bill. Long years later, when it seemed he’d done all there was to do, Emery created the UK’s only weekly newspaper devoted to a sport he had admired since striking up a friendship with the game’s prototype superstar, Barry John. The Rugby Paper scrummed down in 2008, an energetic stablemate to the Non-League Paper launched by Emery’s company, Greenways Publishing, some seven years earlier. She was a phenomenally natural athlete and even though at the time I was a mere slip of a lad, I can remember even then her death had an effect on me. She was the Darling of the nation at the time and the whole country was deeply saddened at her passing. She would have been the best on the planet at her sport had she lived. And can I finally say it's fantastic to see that she is still living in the memories of people some 45 years later.

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The footway from the Munich Olympic Stadium to the subway station was renamed as the Lillian-Board-Weg. There are so many memories involving David. He was inspirational as a sports editor. He could do every role on a newspaper with consummate ease. About 25 years when I finally stopped after about 400 grands prix, we marvelled at my naivety as we went round Berkshire golf course at a Press Golf Society outing where David, a past captain, would produce the hip flask, and two of his sons and myself would laugh our way way along the fairways.David wanted us to have a serialisation in place to be published before Wimbledon in 1991 – and I suggested a young American with a toupee and a lousy wardrobe, who had previously chosen to miss Wimbledon because he disliked the all-white dress code. The following morning he was found having passed away and the concentration of alcohol in his blood is associated with levels that are known to cause fatality. I am satisfied that his death was alcohol-related.” He was known to take illicit drugs, including cocaine, monkey dust and amphetamine as well as prescription drugs which he would buy off the street. After more than 15 seasons and almost 800 issues, The Rugby Paper is still going strong, still reaching parts of the game, not least those at community level, largely neglected through the demise of local newspapers decimated in a post-digital world.