TABLOIDS IN COURT OVER JO YEATES STORIES

Tabloids In Court Over Jo Yeates Stories

3:08pm UK, Tuesday July 05, 2011

Rachel Younger, Sky News correspondent

Newspaper articles published by The Sun and Daily Mirror following the murder of Joanna Yeates could have made a fair trial impossible, according to the attorney general.

The owners of both tabloids face contempt of court charges after running damning pieces about the first suspect to be arrested - Miss Yeates' Bristol landlord Christopher Jefferies.

Attorney general Dominic Grieve told the Lord Chief Justice the articles had been "so exceptional, memorable and adverse" that they created "substantial risk of serious prejudice and impedance".

Both papers accept proceedings were active when the articles appeared, despite repeated warnings from the Mr Grieve's office to report responsibly.

The High Court heard how Mr Jefferies, a former teacher, was an entirely innocent man who is now suing both papers for libel and invasion of privacy in a separate case.



Mr Jefferies, a former teacher, was released without charge


Another suspect, Vincent Tabak, has since pleaded guilty to Jo Yeates' manslaughter and is now awaiting trial for her murder.

The court heard that there had been a huge amount of publicity surrounding the discovery of the 25-year-old's body on Christmas Day last year.

Many papers had run articles on Mr Jefferies that were "adverse and damaging", said the attorney general, but he added that the passage of time and appropriate directions to any jury from a judge would still have made a fair trial possible.



One of the newspapers held up in court by the attorney general


However, he highlighted three articles from The Sun and the Daily Mirror which he described as "exceptionally adverse and hostile to Mr Jefferies".

One suggested he was a sexually perverted voyeur, others cast him as a stalker, a close friend of a paedophile, and a possible suspect in a 36-year-old murder, he said.



A second Daily Mirror article was also criticised


The Lord Chief Justice was told that under the Contempt of Court Act 1981 any trial that had taken place would have been at substantial risk of being thrown out or successfully appealed against if a verdict was reached.

The Mirror News Group argues its journalists simply portrayed Mr Jefferies as "an eccentric loner or a nosy neighbour", while News Group Newspapers denies The Sun called him a stalker.



The Sun was also accused of being in contempt of court


Both are likely to use the European Human Rights Act to argue that Article 10 guarantees their right to free speech.

If found guilty they face a hefty fine and individuals could even be imprisoned.

The case comes at a time when both tabloid reporting and the issue of privacy are under intense scrutiny, meaning the verdict could have far reaching consequences.

The hearing will conclude on Wednesday - it is not yet known when a judgement on the case will be taken

There's a programme on tonight and tomorrow at 21.00 on ITV called The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies - about the ordeal of Jo's landlord at the hands of the media.

Thanks for the reminder NBY x

Yes, thanks, I'd forgot about it and wanted to watch

Yes I am going to watch it, the second part is tomorrow.

Part one was excellent.
My god, how badly was he treated by the police and media!

Here's the first part on the I-player.

https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/the-lost-honour-of-christopher-jefferies

thing to remember here is that the media were punished for their stupidity. the police, by far the worst of the two protagonists in this story having set the media down the road they took, were not.