Benjamin Pell
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Benjamin Pell (often called Benjy, Benji or Benjie) is an eccentric British man who rakes through the dustbins of famous people and their representatives in search of incriminating or compromising documents that he can sell to the media. A sufferer of Obsessive-compulsive disorder, he has said that his behaviour originated from his unexpected failure in his University of London law degree finals, and the frustration resulting from his belief that he was as capable as qualified solicitors on high incomes.
He (or documents he has found) have been involved in several court cases, including ones involving Elton John, All Saints and the 'cash for questions' libel case between Mohammed Al-Fayed and Neil Hamilton. He has also been prosecuted himself and was only fined £20 due to his claim that he lived off a weekly £10 payment from his father despite the estimated £100,000 a year he was earning from selling documents to newspapers.[1]
He has been mentioned repeatedly in Private Eye, which nicknamed him 'Benjy the Bin-man'. He was also the subject of a Channel 4 television documentary Scandal in the Bins by Victor Lewis-Smith.
Benjamin Pell has reportedly retired from his unusual activities. He can often be found in the Royal Courts of Justice taking frantic and copious notes on libel trials.
[edit] References
Tim Adams, Benjamin Pell versus the Rest of the World, Granta 87, page 21 (2004)
- ^ Scandal in the Bins
