Venables and Thompson v News Group International, Associated Newspapers Ltd, MGN Ltd: QBD 4 Dec 2001

An order had been made requiring all newspapers not to publish anything which might lead to the identification of the claimants or their whereabouts. The defendant newspaper published information as to their last known whereabouts. They argued that they did not understand that information about past whereabouts was not covered.
Held: The articles were a clear and serious infringement of the order. Some bits of information were known, but the story as related was not. The accessibility to the general public of Government statistical information is, in the present context, theoretical and not generally accessible to the public, and not in the public domain.

Judges:

The President, Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss

Citations:

[2001] EWHC QB 452, [2001] EMLR 255, [2001] EWHC 530 (QB), [2001] All ER (D) 32

Links:

Bailii, Bailii

Citing:

CitedSaltman Engineering Co v Campbell Engineering Co Ltd CA 1948
The plaintiffs instructed the defendant to make tools for the manufacture of leather punches in accordance with drawings which the plaintiffs provided to the defendant for this purpose. The defendant used the drawings to make tools, and the tools to . .
EnforcedVenables and Thompson v News Group Newspapers and others QBD 8-Jan-2001
Where it was necessary to protect life, an order could be made to protect the privacy of individuals, by disallowing publication of any material which might identify them. Two youths had been convicted of a notorious murder when they were ten, and . .

Cited by:

CitedCream Holdings Limited and others v Banerjee and The Liverpool Daily Post and Echo Limited CA 13-Feb-2003
The defendants considered publication of alleged financial irregularities by the claimant, who sought to restrain publication. The defendants argued that under the Act, prior restraint should not be used unless a later court would be likely to . .
CitedKJO v XIM QBD 7-Jul-2011
The claimant had, some 20 years previously, been convicted and sentenced for forgery of a will. The defendants, relatives, had ever since written to those with whom he had dealings to tell them of the conviction and facts. The claimant, unable to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contempt of Court, Media

Updated: 05 June 2022; Ref: scu.167291