Judge to decide if Stuart Syvret has a case for appeal

Stuart Syvret did not complete any of the 80 hours of community service he was originally given

An independent judge will decide whether the former health minister Stuart Syvret has a case for appeal.

Syvret is serving an eight-week sentence after refusing to do his community service.

Sir Christopher Pitchers, a Commissioner for the Royal Court, is considering whether new evidence that has come to light would have affected the original conviction.

He is expected to give his decision on Wednesday.

Syvret lost his appeal in the Royal Court in August against a contempt of court conviction and was ordered to do 80 hours of community service.

But after failing to complete any of the sentence, Jersey magistrate Bridget Shaw re-sentenced Syvret to eight weeks in prison for his contempt of court offence.

Syvret was arrested and charged with breaching data protection laws in 2009 when he published personal information on his blog.

He failed to appear before magistrates and fled to England, which led to the contempt of court conviction.