Source: Daily_Mail
CHARLES SALE'S SPORTS AGENDA: Sunderland stunt man is unmasked
An axed Sunderland FC employee has admitted responsibility for masterminding the hoax concerning the North East businessman heading a consortium bidding to buy Newcastle United.
Martin Walker, who was a media and PR officer at the Stadium of Light until sacked in April, invented the Rick Parkinson name for his Sunderland fan friend Richard Parker, whom he photographed as part of the spoof press release he sent from a fictitious PR agency.
It attracted much media attention - as did the second revelation that it was a scam.
Walker, who worked at Middlesbrough for five years before spending the last four at Sunderland, engineered the stunt as a joke, but also to show off his PR skills following a departure from Sunderland that is now the subject of legal action.
Walker and three others lost their jobs following their involvement in an alleged chain of gossipy emails that two female members of Sunderland staff are believed to have complained about.
Following the quartet's suspension and an appeals process, chief executive Steve Walton confirmed the dismissals.
Walker said: 'I need to find work and there may be employers who consider I've shown initiative and know what to do to get publicity.
'Sunderland can't think too badly about me because the chairman Niall Quinn responded in a friendly way to my email congratulating the club on staying in the Premier League.
