• About
    • Ethics policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Ownership, funding and corrections
    • Complaints procedure
    • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Newsletter
Brighton and Hove News
11 July, 2025
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Opinion
    • Community
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Food and Drink
  • Sport
    • Brighton and Hove Albion
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Opinion
    • Community
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Food and Drink
  • Sport
    • Brighton and Hove Albion
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
No Result
View All Result
Brighton and Hove News
No Result
View All Result
Home 999

Brighton and Hove News wins right to name Hoogstraten’s son

by Jo Wadsworth
Wednesday 23 Jun, 2021 at 2:00PM
A A
2
Hoogstraten admits calling copper a poofter – but acquitted of abusive behaviour

Nicholas Adolf von Hessen formerly known as Nicholas van Hoogsraten leaves Brighton Magistrates today (Tues) after being acquitted of abusing a police officer Pic by David McHugh / Brighton Pictures

Nicholas van Hoogstraten, now known as Nicholas Adolf von Hessen, with one of his sons outside Brighton Magistrates Court in 2020
Pic by David McHugh / Brighton Pictures

Brighton and Hove News has won the right to name Nicholas van Hoogstraten’s son as the complainant in a police disciplinary case.

Alexander Hamilton complained to Sussex Police over his arrest in August, 2019 on suspicion of wheelclamping a vehicle in a car park owned by his company in The Drive, Hove.

Former PC James Breeds was today found guilty of gross misconduct for using unlawful force to enter Mr Hamilton’s offices and then use pepper spray to arrest him.

Before the hearing began, Mr Hamilton had requested a reporting restriction banning the publication of his name, on the basis it could damage his reputation.

But Brighton and Hove News objected, saying this reason was not enough to justify overriding the importance of openness and transparency in proceedings.

After hearing our representation, the legally qualified chair of the panel turned his request down, citing the importance of transparency in maintaining public confidence in the disciplinary process.

Ogheneruona Iguyovwe said: “The reason for decision is that the norm is for openness and transpacay of these hearing and there’s a need for us to retain the confidence of the public in these proceedings.

“This is a public hearing, which means the media can attend. If we restrict aspects of the hearing that goes to the question of transparency of proceedings.

“We should only depart from those norms in exceptional circumstances and we are not satisfied that this request has met those.

“Whilst there’s sympathy for complainants in these kinds of proceedings, there’s a background to this case and there’s already a mass of members of the public knowing about these proceedings.

“We considered whether any order would be impossible and how easy it would be for the press to comply with it

“Given the information that already exists in this case and that members of the public are already aware of the places and locations that are involved, it would not be very difficult for anyone to identify the complainant.

“The net effect of that would be having to restrict much more and impose a larger restriction on reporting this case than we would like.

“We could not grant the complainant’s request.

“The reasons he put forward were not reasons given in the relevant Home Office guidance.

“I regret that causes him any discomfort but we need to balance the needs of the public to have confidence in the disciplinary process.”

Nicholas von Hoogstraten is well known in Brighton as a notorious slum landlord who started to build his property empire around Sussex in the 1960s.

In 1999, one of his business partners Mohammed Raja was killed by two thugs Hoogstraten had hired. He was convicted Raja’s manslaughter in 2002 and sentenced to ten years, but this conviction was quashed and he was acquitted at a retrial and freed from prison, having spent a year behind bars.

However, in 2005, Raja’s family successfully sued Hoogstraten and were awarded £6 million by Mr Justice Lightman, who found on the balance of probabilities “the recruitment of the two thugs was for the purpose of murdering Mr Raja and not merely frightening or hurting him.”

He subsequently vowed the family would not receive a penny, and put all his UK property into his children’s names, including the Courtlands Hotel in Hove.

He then moved to Zimbabwe where he became a close associate of its dictator president Robert Mugabe.

ShareTweetShareSendSendShare

Comments 2

  1. roy pennington says:
    4 years ago

    whilst i applaud your heroic victory to name the son , the quality of the analysis of your rationale to name is poor = mentioning a dead dictator and the “notorious slum landlord” is not what the reason why Miss Ogheneruona Mercy IGUYOVWE Senior Specialist Prosecutor, International Justice and Organised Crime Division, Crown Prosecution Service allowed the naming…..

    Reply
    • Valerie says:
      4 years ago

      Roy, I believe the story would have baffled readers without the context information telling us who these people are & why they are even newsworthy. Why this young man tried to get name secrecy is better underdtood with this provided context.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Most read

Council given £21m to shore up more seafront arches

Three libraries set to close

Seafront champions disappointed at being overlooked for new board

Counter-terror police investigate after Brighton woman arrested at Queers for Palestine protest

Brighton and Hove News wins right to name Hoogstraten’s son

Drugs seized from stopped car

Cross-Channel ferry service to Dieppe at risk

Comedian appears in court over posts to Brighton antisemitism campaigner

Hospital trust chief quits

Campaigners and councillors react to proposed closure of three libraries

Newsletter

Arts and Culture

  • All
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Food and Drink
Battlesnake headline ‘Ausfest’ in Brighton

Battlesnake headline ‘Ausfest’ in Brighton

10 July 2025
Bob Dylan to open UK tour in Brighton

Bob Dylan to open UK tour in Brighton

10 July 2025
Skids to return to Brighton next January

Skids to return to Brighton next January

10 July 2025
Transvision Vamp’s Wendy James returning to Patterns in Brighton

Transvision Vamp’s Wendy James returning to Patterns in Brighton

9 July 2025
Load More

Sport

  • All
  • Brighton and Hove Albion
  • Cricket
Brighton and Hove Albion to receive freedom of the city

Brighton and Hove Albion sell winger to Sunderland for £21m

by Frank le Duc
10 July 2025
0

Brighton and Hove Albion have sold international winger Simon Adingra to Sunderland in a deal reported to be worth about...

Sussex Sharks open T20 Blast with a win

Sussex pipped by Kent in T20 thriller at Hove

by Bruce Talbot - ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
9 July 2025
0

Sussex 148 (19.5 overs) Kent Spitfires 151-8 (19.3 overs) Kent Spitfires win by two wickets Joey Evison was Kent’s hero...

Brighton tennis player beaten by seed in first round at Wimbledon

Sonay Kartal’s impressive Wimbledon run comes to an end

by Eleanor Crooks - PA sport correspondent
6 July 2025
0

Sonay Kartal’s fine Wimbledon run ended with a fourth-round defeat to Russian veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The Brighton and Hove player...

Sussex Sharks open T20 Blast with a win

Bad night for Sussex at Hove as Hampshire bounce back in Blast

by Bruce Talbot - ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
5 July 2025
0

Hampshire Hawks ended a run of five games without a win in the Vitality Blast to revive their hopes of...

Load More
June 2021
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930  
« May   Jul »

RSS From Sussex News

  • Cross-Channel ferry service to Dieppe at risk 9 July 2025
  • Police officer admits sexually assaulting four women 9 July 2025
  • Hospital trust chief quits 9 July 2025
  • Foot fetish caller sentenced for repeated calls to police 7 July 2025
  • White van man held over road rage at Crossbush 7 July 2025
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy
  • Complaints
  • Ownership, funding and corrections
  • Ethics
  • T&C

© 2023 Brighton and Hove News

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Opinion
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
  • Sport
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Contact

© 2023 Brighton and Hove News