The defendant applied to be allowed to purge her contempt of court.
Held: The court first pointed out that the defendant had not been sentenced in secret, but in open court. The contempt had been serious leading to the identity of the child subject to the proceedings being spread about the internet. A sentence of imprisonment was appropriate and inevitable. The contemnor had however now done what she could to retrieve the situation and had sincerely apologised. The sentence of nine months would be suspended with immediate effect.
Judges:
Sir Nicholas Wall P
Citations:
[2011] EWHC 2376 (Fam), [2011] 3 FCR 439, [2011] Fam Law 1195
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – In re S (a Child) (Identification: Restrictions on Publication) HL 28-Oct-2004
Inherent High Court power may restrain Publicity
The claimant child’s mother was to be tried for the murder of his brother by poisoning with salt. It was feared that the publicity which would normally attend a trial, would be damaging to S, and an application was made for reporting restrictions to . .
Cited – Hammerton v Hammerton CA 12-Apr-2007
Appeal against sentence of two months imprisonment for contempt of court. The court emphasised the need to ensure a fair process in such cases. The court was critical of the judge who sentenced a contemnor without hearing mitigation and without . .
See Also – Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council v Watson (No 1) FD 1-Sep-2011
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Contempt of Court, Family
Updated: 23 March 2022; Ref: scu.444732
