Talk:John Coates

Phone call

On 2 September 2013 at 10:58am, John Coates telephoned Patrick Haseldine to talk about his WikiSpooks biography, and to ask that corrections be made. Coates said that he is not - as the biography states - "a specialist in apartheid South Africa matters". He wanted that removed. Coates also denied that he "spent most of 2009 helping Charles Norrie with compiling, editing and producing 'A Tale Of Three Atrocities' (Iran Air Flight 655, Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772) which was published in December 2009 on the 21st anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing." Coates considered that Charles Norrie's "ATOTA" booklet was not a professional publication and did not want to be associated with it.

Patrick Haseldine asked whether it was true that he (Coates) used to meet Charles Norrie regularly for Sunday lunch to discuss Lockerbie. Coates agreed that they did meet often and that the discussions were sometimes alcohol-fuelled. Coates asked whether Haseldine had any news as to the health of Charles Norrie. Haseldine said that he had not heard from Norrie since December 2012. Coates said he would contact Norrie's partner Judith, whose mobile number he had, to find out and would let Haseldine know.

When challenged by Patrick Haseldine as to why he (John Coates) was not "shouting from the rooftops" that Bernt Carlsson had been targeted on Pan Am Flight 103, Coates replied that he needed to concentrate on earning enough to pay his bills. In 1994, he had founded a media and PR company Parkshot Communications and could not afford to jeopardise its viability by espousing a "conspiracy theory" for which there was no evidence.

Haseldine asked why John Coates had been credited by John Ashton in his book "Cover-up of Convenience" when Ashton failed even to mention or index Bernt Carlsson in the book. Coates was unable to explain this conundrum. Nor could John Coates confirm whether Professor Robert Black was/is an intelligence asset (MI5/MI6).-Patrick Haseldine (talk) 23:59, 13 September 2013 (IST)

In the course of this long telephone conversation (which ended at 12:20pm on 2 September 2013), Patrick Haseldine raised the matter of Dr Morag Kerr, the Deputy Secretary of the Justice for Megrahi campaign group, and the amazing allegation made by Charles Norrie that Morag Kerr is the latest pseudonym of Wikipedia's "Slim Virgin" (aka Linda Mack). John Coates denied that he had inspired Norrie to make the "Slim Virgin" allegation.

Haseldine asked whether John Coates is making any further Al Jazeera TV documentaries on the Lockerbie bombing. Coates said it was unlikely because of an argument he had with the director Neil Cairns who cut large chunks out of the "Lockerbie bombing probe" without reference to him.

John Coates asked Haseldine what evidence there is that Bernt Carlsson was the Lockerbie target. Haseldine rehearsed all the evidence that is fully set out in WikiSpooks article The how, why and who of Pan Am Flight 103, and suggested Coates should take the time to read it.-Patrick Haseldine (talk) 13:07, 14 September 2013 (IST)