- Upset coffee - 25th February 2026
- Not acting the part - 24th February 2026
- Death wish - 23rd February 2026
During 23 years with the BBC, and in a 42 year journalistic career (when he was trained to use clear and simple language, avoiding jargon), for our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry, spurious complaints as well as empty legal threats have been a constant feature, with stories invariably ‘run past the lawyer’ before publication for safety, and this is now highlighted by a bizarre and embarrassing incident which happened to him a few days ago.
You almost become used to them.
After nearly every programme I have ever presented, or each story I now publish on The Eye I receive a barrage of complaints (virtually all of them totally absurd), or empty legal threats.
For example, one from a conspiracy theorist last summer was: “I am currently preparing an evidence file, with legal input, for submission to South Wales Police (this would have been a civil case anyway, NOT a criminal one!)“.
This person has also said menacingly: “I am writing to formally notify you of my intention to pursue legal action against you for defamation in connection with articles published about me on The Eye website, and to raise serious concerns that your conduct may also constitute harassment under the Online Safety Act 2023
“To avoid formal legal proceedings, I require the following actions to be taken within 14days of the date of this letter:
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- Immediate removal of all articles about me from The Eye website.
- A written undertaking that you will not republish any material concerning me”.
A further legal letter from the lawyer of one of my targets last month, declared: “This is a letter of claim written under the Pre-Action Protocol for Media and Communication claims. In accordance with this protocol, we request a reply to this letter within 14 days, failing which our client reserves the right to issue proceedings without further recourse”.
Perhaps oddly, all of this has been put centre stage for me by a regrettable incident at a coffee outlet near where I live in Cardiff, called Coffee#1.
The friend I was having coffee with (who is in his 70s) was becoming disturbed by the draught from a door which was being constantly left open.
When a server finally closed it, he said: “Yes, shut the fucking door!”.
At which the server swivelled round and declared loudly: “YOU ARE NOW BARRED!”.
He then proceeded to march up to his counter proclaiming: “HE IS BARRED!”, and approached other customers in the café to tell them what had just happened.
This seemed strange behaviour from the employee when neither my friend nor I are likely ever to go into Coffee#1 again (especially as he is now apparently ‘barred’), and there are any number of alternative places for a coffee in this area, with yet another one about to open soon.
A formal complaint was subsequently sent by me to the company: “I would like to complain in the strongest possible terms about an embarrassing incident which just took place in your Cathedral Road, Cardiff outlet.
“My friend (who is 75) was being bothered by a constant draught from the door being left open.
“When a server finally closed it, my friend said: ‘Yes. Shut the fucking door!’.
“At which the server said: ‘You are now BARRED’. He then went to the counter and said: ‘He is now barred’”.
In response Coffee#1 apologised, and said: “Regardless of the language used, the interaction should have been handled with far more professionalism and sensitivity. Your friend’s comment was clearly made out of frustration with the draught, and the response you describe immediately barring him and announcing it publicly was not an appropriate or measured way to deal with the situation.
“I appreciate you taking the time to explain what happened, and I’m passing this on to the store’s management and the wider operational team so the behaviour can be addressed directly. Thank you… for raising this.”
You may think there should have been no complaint (I certainly would not have used the language at the heart of it), but plainly Coffee number 1 (perhaps mindful of the competition) took a different view. Despite this apology, sadly the whole episode left a bad taste in my mouth and ruined what should have been a relaxing coffee with chat.
Never has going for a cuppa proved such an ordeal!
At least, though, this was a complaint with substance (whether you agree with it or not!) – unlike all those other ones, which have often been about statements that were NEVER made!
The memories of Phil’s astonishing, decades long award-winning career in journalism (during which there were constant complaints, but they were always spurious), as he was gripped by the rare neurological disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A Good Story’. Order it now
Tomorrow – how during that career, Phil would often be confronted by bizarre episodes like this, and it is today put centre stage by news that one-time allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are mired in an extraordinary spat, while another country they have in the past both embargoed, is now trying to mediate between them!
