OxStu Two trial postponed
Having receiving their protoral summons, the two Oxford Student journalists who exposed security flaws in the University's computer network have succeeded in postponing their court hearing.
Editor Patrick Foster and News Editor Roger Waite, who were due to face the Court of Summary Jurisdiction next Monday, will not now appear before the Court until at least 22nd October.
Both students were provided with details of the case against them last Saturday, leaving what they considered insufficient time to prepare their cases, given their academic commitments.
Following a request from Foster and Waite, Chairman of the Court Peter Clarke decreed that in "the interests of justice" the pair should be granted extra time to prepare their case, which will take place during term time.
Foster said: "Having kept us in the dark for four months whilst they prepared their case against us, the University planned to give us just under a week, after seeing their evidence, to prepare a response."
Soon after the offending article was published, University officials revoked Foster and Waite's use of University IT facilities, including their Webmail accounts.
However, both students will have their IT facilities restored from today.
Waite expressed pleasure that the Proctors had seen fit to allow this access, saying: "This had the potential to be seriously detrimental to my academic work."
The proceedings against the two have been featured in several national newspapers over the vacation, with the Independent writing: "Oxford statutes are out of line with European Law."
6th Oct 2004