A DUTY TO PUBLISH?

A couriered envelope arrives in the newsroom addressed to you.

It is from a person whose name you recognise, but whom you don't know. It contains copies of a contract on legal letterhead, between a well-known footballer and his former girlfriend and suggests that the man paid her $150,000 not to press charges of assault over an alleged incident two years ago in the home they once shared. Also in the envelope is a doctor's report outlining a number of serious injuries sustained by the woman during the incident.

The footballer has recently married and is about to be offered the captaincy of the national team.

What do you do? Do you bin it? Do you contact the source directly? Do you call the police? Do you call the footballer? Do you publish the story?