Media Law
A regional television news broadcaster has engaged your services to provide legal advice in respect of their news bulletins. You have been asked to provide legal advice in respect of the following piece from their court reporter for the evening bulletin which has just been received in the newsroom:
“Simon ‘Slasher’ Stevens, as he is known to friends and associates, has been appearing on indictment today at Thistletoun Sheriff Court for a serious assault with an offensive weapon and extortion. The assault relates to an incident that took place in Thistletoun Shopping Centre last September during which Senga McGlumpher, who gave evidence earlier in the trial, was knocked to the ground and threatened. Stevens denies involvement and claims that he was at a pawnbroker in Glasgow with one of his associates, Oliver Harvey, at the time of the incident. Harvey, giving evidence on this the third day of the trial, confirmed Stevens’s version of events. However, like Stevens, Harvey has a number of convictions for violent crime. Indeed, it was apparent from Harvey’s evidence that he was not telling the truth. After viewing some CCTV footage from a local shop, I can confirm Stevens was in the vicinity at the time of the incident. Therefore, it should not take the prosecution too long to establish Stevens’s involvement. Having spoken to one of the jurors, it is clear that they have already formed the view that Stevens is guilty. The trial is set to resume next Monday.”
You subsequently discover that the sheriff has ordered that the name of the victim is not to be disclosed. In addition to this, the broadcaster has asked your advice on broadcasting a piece about public concern over a spate of assaults and robberies in the Thistletoun area during which they would like to mention the above case and show the CCTV footage mentioned. Your answer should identify the implications of broadcasting the above piece and the subsequent piece in terms of the law of contempt of
“Simon ‘Slasher’ Stevens, as he is known to friends and associates, has been appearing on indictment today at Thistletoun Sheriff Court for a serious assault with an offensive weapon and extortion. The assault relates to an incident that took place in Thistletoun Shopping Centre last September during which Senga McGlumpher, who gave evidence earlier in the trial, was knocked to the ground and threatened. Stevens denies involvement and claims that he was at a pawnbroker in Glasgow with one of his associates, Oliver Harvey, at the time of the incident. Harvey, giving evidence on this the third day of the trial, confirmed Stevens’s version of events. However, like Stevens, Harvey has a number of convictions for violent crime. Indeed, it was apparent from Harvey’s evidence that he was not telling the truth. After viewing some CCTV footage from a local shop, I can confirm Stevens was in the vicinity at the time of the incident. Therefore, it should not take the prosecution too long to establish Stevens’s involvement. Having spoken to one of the jurors, it is clear that they have already formed the view that Stevens is guilty. The trial is set to resume next Monday.”
You subsequently discover that the sheriff has ordered that the name of the victim is not to be disclosed. In addition to this, the broadcaster has asked your advice on broadcasting a piece about public concern over a spate of assaults and robberies in the Thistletoun area during which they would like to mention the above case and show the CCTV footage mentioned. Your answer should identify the implications of broadcasting the above piece and the subsequent piece in terms of the law of contempt of
References: Richardson v Wilson (1879). Att Gen v English (1982). Naomi Campbell v Mirror Group Newspaper Ltd (2002). Liyod V Jagpal (2009).