A regional newspaper has been reported to the Attorney General after a judge abandoned a crown court trial because of a reader comment on a story.
The judge ordered a re-trial at a different venue after the comment was made on a story run by an unnamed Newsquest title during live criminal proceedings.
Confirmation of the action was made by Newsquest editorial development director Toby Granville in a message to the company’s staff which has been seen by HTFP.
However neither Newsquest nor the Attorney General’s office have thus far released any further details of the case.
In his message to staff, Toby said: “Due to a reader comment on one of our stories during live criminal proceedings, a crown court judge abandoned the trial and ordered a re-trial out of area. Our newspaper has also been reported to the Attorney General.
“In circumstances like this there could be a prosecution under the Contempt of Court Act as well as statutory power under the Courts Act 2003 that allows the courts to recover wasted costs of re-trial from a third party where the ‘serious conduct’ of that third party affects a case.
“Therefore (while I’m sure many of you deactivate them already in circumstances like this) the policy going forward must be to not allow comments on stories about live criminal proceedings. Please ensure your staff are aware.”
HTFP has approached Newsquest for further comment and for clarification of the title involved. The Attorney General’s Office told HTFP it was not in a position to confirm or deny whether an investigation is live.
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Comments are dangerous territory for newspapers/websites and need proper monitoring by someone experienced in legal aspects
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Um…..ooops!
Well. what do you expect Newsquest when you cut to the bone………………..?
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Sadly, this smacks of cutbacks coming home to roost. What a newspaper group may save in terms of getting rid of subs and more experienced reporters may well be offset by the costs incurred by basic stupid mistakes.
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This is why JP and other papers switched off website hosted comments a while back. It’s just far too dangerous.
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Sadly, it’s undoubtedly still cheaper for Newsquest to pay fines/costs than employ subs to check copy, etc
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Of course if an editor was jailed for contempt experienced subs and reporters would be taken on in droves!
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Have come to conclusion that readers’ comments are more hassle than they’re worth – individuals with an axe to grind tend to use them as a stick to beat us with…
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Leaving comments on for live cases is asking for trouble. Nothing to do with cuts or standards – just madness.
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Meanwhile, on social media…….
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