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We successfully represented a local newspaper in what appeared to be a prima facie breach of the Contempt of Court Act 1981.
The publication contained a picture of an individual and was headed ‘This Man Is A Paedophile’. The article mentioned previous convictions relating to sex offences for which the man had been convicted.
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On the date of publication of the article the man was due to appear at the High Court in Glasgow on charges relating to sexually assaulting a 13 year old girl some 27 years previously.
The circulation of the local paper in the Glasgow area amounted to 31 copies out of the 12,742 which was the paper's weekly distribution.
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It was held by the court that any member of the jury who had read the article would find it difficult to take an objective view.
If the article had been published on a national circulation or in an area from which a juror had been selected then the criteria for substantial risk would have been established.
While the court accepted that there was a risk, given the level and area of distribution of the paper, this was not a substantial risk and therefore that there had been no contempt of court.
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