Monica Coghlan (3 April
1951 – 27 April 2001) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
woman at the centre of a scandal that involved British
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
politician
Jeffrey Archer
Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament (1969–1974), but did not ...
in 1987. Although he won a
libel
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
case against the ''
Daily Star'' newspaper, which had alleged that he had paid her for sex, it was later established, in legal proceedings in 2001, that he had
perjured himself in the trial. Archer was jailed for this in July 2001, receiving a four year sentence. Coghlan died in a car crash shortly before the second trial began, without having the chance to face him in court before his subsequent conviction.
Early life
Monica Mary Coghlan was born on 3 April 1951, in
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
, the sixth of seven children. She had a troubled childhood, leaving home and school at the age of 15. While living alone, the diminutive (1.50 m, 4' 11", as an adult) teenager suffered a violent sexual attack and was forced to leave her flat. She first worked as a cloakroom attendant at a local
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
, then became a prostitute at the age of 17. Her work alias was 'Debbie'. She was arrested several times for soliciting in the Greater Manchester area, and moved to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. Other juvenile arrests led to convictions for cannabis possession and shoplifting. She served two prison terms. All the time she concealed what she did from her family, telling them she worked in property.
["Victim: Monica Coghlan"]
20 July 2001, ''The Guardian''["The Press, the Hooker, the Peer and His Fragrant Wife"]
, by Michael Yockel, ''New York Press
''New York Press'' was a free alternative weekly in New York City, which was published from 1988 to 2011.
The ''Press'' strove to create a rivalry with the ''Village Voice''. ''Press'' editors claimed to have tried to hire away writer Nat Hent ...
'', 16 April 2001
She became pregnant, and for a short time retired from prostitution, returning to live in Rochdale to raise her son, Robin Daley Coghlan (born 1984, Rochdale).
When her boyfriend died unexpectedly, she returned to prostitution, leading a double life "to secure the boy's future"; she cared for the toddler during the week, then left him with friends or relatives at weekends, to commute by train to London to work.
[
]
Jeffrey Archer
In September 1986 Coghlan picked up a client in Shepherd Market
Shepherd Market is a small business-lined precinct featuring two small squares, one with a northern recess in Mayfair, in the West End of London, built up between 1735 and 1746 by Edward Shepherd on the open ground then used for the annual fair ...
, Mayfair
Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
. Aziz Kurtha, a Pakistani or Indian businessman who saw him with Coghlan, identified him as Jeffrey Archer
Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament (1969–1974), but did not ...
, then the Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
's Deputy Chairman. Kurtha sold the story of Archer seeing a prostitute to a tabloid newspaper. Rather than print the unverified story, the paper decided to organise a 'sting' by getting Coghlan to ask Archer for money to stay silent. On 24 October 1986, the ''News of the World
The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...
'' filmed and audiotaped Michael Stacpoole, a representative of Jeffrey Archer, giving Coghlan £2,000 in £50 notes on Platform 3 of London's Victoria Station to leave the country to avoid reporters. Coghlan earned £6,000 from the newspapers for taking part in the sting operation. Archer admitted to giving Coghlan travel funds, but sued the bolder ''Daily Star'' for printing that he and Coghlan had had sex for money.[
During the trial, Coghlan broke down in tears repeatedly on cross-examination, but continued to assert the truth of the newspaper's story, dramatically calling Archer a liar in court. In other testimony she stated that she enjoyed her job as a prostitute, and defended her work with married clients, saying that "Half the time it keeps marriages together." She regretted that she could not go back to work after the trial. "Jeffrey Archer took everything away from me," she would later say. "I lost my home, my dignity, my self-respect, and any hope of a future."][
]
After the trial
After the trial, Coghlan posed topless for a newspaper for £5,400, then worked as a bingo
Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Gaming
* Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers
** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland
** Bi ...
caller, earning enough money to buy a small house, where she continued raising her son Robin, out of the limelight, who had no knowledge of his mother's former profession and notoriety until he was 15. Then, in late 1999 and 2000, as Archer was running for Mayor of London
The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the 1998 Greater London Authority referendum, Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first Directly elected may ...
, several of his confederates who had testified at the trial for him, began recanting their stories. In September 2000, Archer was charged with perjury, his trial due to open the next May.[
However, on 26 April 2001, drug addict Gary Day crashed a stolen Jaguar S-Type into Coghlan's ]Ford Fiesta
The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...
outside Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
. Day, 32, had robbed a pharmacy for drugs, then hijacked two cars using a fake pistol: first a Peugeot taxi, which he crashed into a parked Land Rover, then the Jaguar from a motorist who had stopped at the first crash scene to help. Coghlan's car was catapulted through a wall. She lay in the wreck for an hour, and had to be cut out of the wreckage through the car roof. She died from her injuries the next day in a hospital in Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, aged 50. Day admitted manslaughter, and was sentenced to life imprisonment on 6 July 2001.["Coghlan killer is jailed for life"]
by Martin Wainwright, 7 July 2001, ''The Guardian''
Following her death and Archer's conviction for perjury, on 20 July 2001 the English Collective of Prostitutes
The English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) is a campaigning group which supports the decriminalisation of prostitution, sex workers' right to recognition and safety, and the provision of financial alternatives to prostitution so that no one ...
wrote an open letter to ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' newspaper supporting her vindication, and calling her unjustly "branded by her sex, race and class and by the prostitution laws which label and condemn women."[English Collective of Prostitutes letter]
All Women Count
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coghlan, Monica
1951 births
2001 deaths
20th-century criminals
British people convicted of theft
English manslaughter victims
English people convicted of drug offences
English female prostitutes
People from Rochdale
Road incident deaths in England