A MAN who is serving a sentence for possessing child pornography is to ask a judge to jail StarSunday editor Ger Colleran for contempt of court and to sequestrate the newspaper's assets.
Counsel Hugh Mohan told Judge Joseph Mathews yesterday that the newspaper had driven a coach-and-four through his recent judgment in which he found Star Sundayhad defamed Barry Watters and directed it publish an apology.
Mr Mohan, who appeared for Watters, recalled that in his judgment in the Circuit Civil Court last week, Judge Mathews ordered that there was to be no repetition of the original libel.
He said the libel had been repeated and he would be arguing this later when seeking a court order attaching and committing Mr Colleran and directing sequestration of Independent Star Limited’s assets.
Eoin McCullough SC, for the newspaper, said he disagreed with Mr Mohan’s contention that an article about the judgment in last Sunday’s edition of the newspaper amounted to a contempt of court.
Mr Mohan said the repeat of the libel and gravity of the contempt had been emphasised in the article with a picture of Watters in last Sunday’s newspaper.
He said a headline had stated: “We may have to apologise to this revolting pervert. Will we mean it? Hell no.”
Watters’s situation had, in contravention of the court’s specific order, been totally negated and worsened dramatically and could not be allowed to stand.
Judge Mathews, in last week’s judgment, had held that Watters (34), Hazelwood Avenue, Dundalk, Co Louth, after admitting his guilt and seeking psychiatric help for his chronic addiction to child pornography, had retained a “residual character” which could and had been defamed by the newspaper.
While he had suffered a substantial loss of reputation through his guilt, conviction and imprisonment on pornographic charges, he could not reasonably be said to be in the same category as a convicted prisoner in continuous denial with no remorse, contrition, acceptance of wrongdoing or wish to rehabilitate and not re-offend.
Star Sundayhad been directed to publish an apology for having stated that Watters had formed "a seedy and weird relationship" in prison with "the beast of Baltinglass", convicted rapist Larry Murphy, in Arbour Hill Prison. The paper was also directed to apologise for having referred to Watters as "a twisted pervert".
Mr Mohan told Judge Mathews that yesterday's court hearing was to have been about an agreed apology to Watters under the 2009 Defamation Act or part publication by Star Sundayof the judgment, but last Sunday's developments had overtaken that course, he said.
Mr Mohan was granted leave to apply for a declaration that the newspaper was in contempt of the judgment and directions of the court and to seek the attachment and committal to prison of Mr Colleran as well as the seizure of assets.