A complaint about an RTÉ television news item showing a mentally ill man being led from court in manacles has been upheld by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC).
Michael Corish referred to the item on the 6.01 News and repeated on the 9 0'clock News which showed the man being led from court after he had been found guilty but insane when charged with murder.
The BCC said: "He [ Mr Corish] states it is hard to see what public good is being promoted or what public service is provided by the transmission of these images."
RTÉ said Mr Corish was right to raise concerns about the images of a mentally ill person being shown on television. However, RTÉ had to weigh these concerns against its obligation to report on court proceedings. RTÉ believed the report got the balance about right.
The reporter herself and her editorial managers had reviewed the report and said that in future they may well place less emphasis on the details of the crime and more on the failure of society to protect victims and those mentally ill people who carried out such crimes, RTÉ said.
"RTÉ cannot 'airbrush out' details of a particular horrible killing because the perpetrator was mentally ill," it said.
The BCC upheld the complaint and decided it infringed the Broadcasting Act on taste and decency grounds. "The commission was of the opinion that the man's vulnerability outweighed the public interest of including such footage," the BCC said.