The defendant had been acquitted. The Director of Public prosecutions announced that new and compelling evidence had come to light and a retrial was ordered. The defendant objected that the publicity surrounding the Director’s publicity release was prejudicial to his right to a fair trial. The Director now sought an order restricting publicity around the trial.
Held: Such publicity announcements should be avoided in future, but the publicity was insufficient to make a new trial unfair in this case. The provisions of the 2003 Act as to publicity were wider than those of the 1981 Act, and an order should be granted.
Citations:
Times 06-Mar-2006, [2006] 1WLR 1998
Statutes:
Criminal Justice Act 2003, Contempt of Court Act 1981 4(2)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – HM Attorney General v MGN Ltd and Another Admn 29-Jul-2011
The police arrested a man on suspicion of the murder of a young woman. He was later released and exonerated, and a second man arrested and later convicted. Whilst the first was in custody the two defendant newspapers, the Daily Mirror and the Sun . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice, Media
Updated: 26 August 2022; Ref: scu.240164