Murder trial newspapers accused over online gun photos
- Published
The Attorney General has accused two national newspapers of contempt of court over internet photos showing a murder trial defendant with a gun.
Dominic Grieve QC is asking the High Court to punish the publishers of the Daily Mail and The Sun.
The cases arise out of the trial in Sheffield in 2009 of Ryan Ward, who was convicted of murdering car mechanic Craig Wass by hitting him with a brick.
They are thought to be the first cases of their kind relating to the internet.
Judge Michael Murphy QC, who presided at the trial at Sheffield Crown Court, refused to discharge the jury, saying he was "quite satisfied" none had been influenced by material on the internet.
Published in error
On Wednesday, Angus McCullough, QC for the Attorney General, argued that publication of the pictures created a substantial risk that the trial could have been "seriously impeded or prejudiced" by jurors seeing them.
Both newspapers argued that the risk of prejudice was "insubstantial", particularly as the trial judge had repeatedly warned jurors not to consult the internet.
High Court judges Lord Justice Moses and Mr Justice Owen, sitting in London, reserved judgment after a day-long hearing.
They are expected to use the proceedings to lay down guidelines on how the law of contempt should be applied in online cases.
Mr McCullough emphasised the potential prejudicial effect on any juror of a picture of a defendant in criminal proceedings posing with "what appeared to be a gun".
Life term
Jonathan Caplan QC, for Daily Mail publishers Associated Newspapers Ltd, said the photo was published in error on Mail Online, and the legal advice would have been not to publish.
The error was discovered by the freelance journalist who wrote the story and he alerted the newsdesk who immediately removed it.
Anthony Hudson, for The Sun's publishers News Group Newspapers, stressed that the jury had been warned not to consult the internet.
Even if it had been seen, it was "an extremely small risk" that any juror would have been prejudiced by the poor quality image published, he said.
Ward, 19, of Phillips Road, Sheffield, was convicted of murdering father-of-four Craig Wass, 39, by hitting him over the head with a brick as he tried to break up a fight.
He was jailed for life in December 2009 and told he would serve a minimum of 14 years in prison.