Would the paisley pyjamas sting stand up in court?

Would the paisley pyjamas sting stand up in court? | LSE Media Policy Project:

"If the Daily Telegraph had exposed the abuse of parliamentary expenses today, rather than in 2009, it could be prosecuted for purchasing a disc of expense receipts from a public official under either the Data Protection Act or the Bribery Act.

Yet only under the Data Protection Act – which carries much lighter sentences – would the paper have technically been able to mount a public interest defence. 

In some cases involving journalists, this means that the ‘defence of necessity’ has to be used to invoke the public interest indirectly.  QC’s Alex Bailin and Edward Craven have argued that it is unacceptable that these defences have to be brought by the ‘back door’." 'via Blog this'