Three newspapers have been found in criminal contempt of court and fined up to €20,000 over their coverage of the Brian Murphy manslaughter trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The Star on Sundayreceived the highest fine of €20,000 for an article which appeared on January 25th last under the headline "Taxpayers will pay for most of posh kids trial."
The Irish Examinerand The UCD College Tribune, which both reported legal argument heard in the absence of the jury, were fined €1,000 and €250 respectively.
Judge Michael White, who presided over the lengthy trial, found that the decision by the editor of the Star on Sundayto publish its article on legal aid was a "serious contempt of court."
Judge White noted that on the Thursday before the article was published, submissions had been made on behalf of one of the accused, that a "public atmosphere" was being created by the media which would make it difficult for the jury to try the case on the facts alone.
Reporting restrictions limiting comment pieces surrounding the case were imposed by Judge White the following day.
Judge White said he fully accepted that the newspaper had the right to publish the fact that two of the accused were on legal aid as a matter of public interest. However, he said this could have been done after the jury had delivered its verdict rather than at a sensitive stage of the trial.
He noted an apology on behalf of the publication by Mr Eoin McCullough SC and accepted that the contempt of court was not intended.
Judge White said he was also satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt that the 'Irish Examiner' had committed a criminal contempt in publishing matters that were dealt with the absence of the jury.
However, he said he fully accepted that the article was a result of inadvertence and a genuine mistake." He also noted the newspaper's apology after it published the article written by a freelance journalist.
Judge White also accepted that an article written in the UCD College Tribunewas a result of inadvertence and had been written by "inexperienced people on a learning curve."
However he said this was a more serious contempt because it had touched on legal argument about evidence in the trial. "If it had been in a national paper we would have had to abandon the trial," he said.
Judge White gave the
Irish Examinerand
The Star on Sunday14 days and the
UCD College Tribunethree months to pay with liberty to apply in case of difficulty with enforcement. A stay on the orders was granted in the event of an appeal.