Former Oxford Union President Josh Roche has been cleared of bringing the society into disrepute, following a Senior Disciplinary Committee investigation into his behaviour.
The charges against him were brought following last month's exclusive interview with Cherwell in which Roche admitted that he broke Union rules.
Roche had been accused of talking to the press without the permission of current Union President Charlie Holt, a move that is explicitly against the society's rules.
On Sunday a meeting of the Oxford Union's Senior Disciplinary Committee found Roche not guilty on the basis of "insufficient evidence." The prosecution failed to sway the committee that Roche "didn't have permission" to talk to the press.
Roche told the hearing that he had gained permission for the interview from his "close friend Charlie Holt" during a "very jovial" phone conversation on Wednesday of 0th week. Holt said he did not remember this.
The former President said, "I gave Charlie a phone call, as I do most days, with the explicit desire to ask permission to do this. At the end of the conversation Charlie was struggling to get the conversation onto other issues that were more important to him.
"I asked ‘Is it OK for me to do the interview?' and he said ‘Yeah, OK.' I didn't think he was paying that much attention."
When asked why he did not confirm Holt's permission Roche replied, "I know him too well."
Roche recorded the interview three days later, on Saturday of 0th week. During it he admitted that he had never read the entire Oxford Union rulebook saying, "it's longer than the constitution of Canada."
According to Roche, the following day Holt "was not in his normal mellow mood". "He told me in no uncertain terms, "Josh I don't want you to do that interview."
Holt said he was not informed at this point that the interview had already been recorded. The two shared a meal at McDonalds and Roche considered the matter closed because "Charlie made no further comments."
When questioned as why he waited until the following Tuesday to confirm that the interview had taken place Roche replied, "I find the whole situation incredibly regrettable, not least because of Charlie and I's personal relationship. I'm fully aware of having to do things by the book. I'm not the sort of person who would just assume that I had permission, or misinterpret things or leave anything to chance. In fact all my friends have said often that I'm too paranoid."
Luke Tryl, prosecuting, demanded, "the President's word should be relied upon." Holt did not recall giving the go-ahead but admitted that he could not remember the details of all his conversations with Roche. The committee disagreed with Tryl's argument and cleared Roche of all charges.
One Oxford Union member said the whole case was "pretty pathetic really" and a "waste of time and money."
Speaking after the verdict Charlie Holt said "I am entirely confident that the panel acted in an impartial and considered manner and I, of course, completely respect its judgement."
He also defended the cost of calling the committee to deal with the issue saying, "the cost of SDC's is usually quite reasonable: we pay the panel members, often professional barristers and lawyers, no fee for their work and the money spent on SDCs just goes towards food, etc."
This is the second time this year that Roche has had to stand before the SDC. Last term he was found guilty of abusing his position as Union President by offering favourable rates on room hire to his friends. He was cleared of misleading members over the termcard after several high profile speakers failed to appear at Frewin Court.
