Chief tennis writer faces action after admitting to lifting copy to be used in three annuals for Wimbledon tournaments

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

The Times has suspended its chief tennis correspondent, Neil Harman, after he had confessed to plagiarising copy written by other tennis writers when compiling Wimbledon yearbooks.

A spokeswoman for the newspaper said he had been suspended "pending an investigation into allegations of plagiarism" (surely "admissions" of plagiarism).

The Times ran two articles under Harman's byline on Thursday: a back-page lead about Andy Murray and a piece about the county cup.

Prior to that, Harman had resigned from the International Tennis Writers' Association. It followed his being fired by the Wimbledon authorities after they were informed about plagiarism in three annuals written under Harman's name.

Harman has been chief tennis correspondent at The Times since 2002. His journalistic career stretches back 40 years. He was formerly chief football writer with the Daily Mail.

Further examples of Harman's plagiarism have been posted by Slate here. There is no suggestion that Harman has been guilty of plagiarism in his articles for The Times.