Joanna Yeates contempt case begins

Judges will decide if Sun and Mirror were in contempt of court over articles published after Christopher Jefferies’ arrest Contempt proceedings against the Sun and Daily Mirror over their coverage of the hunt for the killer of Joanna Yeates begin on Tuesday in the high court. Three high court judges including Lord Judge, the lord chief justice, will decide whether articles published in the two papers following the arrest of a suspect by police investigating the killing of the landscape architect were in contempt of court, in a case that is scheduled to last two days in London. The attorney general, Dominic Grieve, will be presenting the government’s case himself, having been given the go-ahead to bring contempt proceedings by the high court in May . Yeates, who lived in Clifton, Bristol, disappeared on 17 December after going for Christmas drinks with colleagues. Her frozen body was found on a roadside verge in Failand, Somerset, on Christmas Day. At the hearing in May, lawyers outlined details from articles published following the death of Yeates in December and judges ruled there was an “arguable” case against the newspapers. Andrew Caldecott QC for the attorney general – the government’s chief legal adviser – told the court in May that there were concerns about the newspapers’ coverage following the arrest of Yeates’ landlord, Christopher Jefferies, on 30 December. Jefferies was subsequently released without charge and there was no suggestion “whatsoever” that he had any involvement in Yeates’ death, said Caldecott. But he added that the attorney general felt that articles published in the Daily Mirror on 31 December and the Sun on 1 January, would have posed a “substantial risk of serious prejudice” to any trial Jefferies might have faced. Caldecott said Grieve had warned the media about coverage “in the context of Christopher Jefferies’ arrest” in a BBC Radio 4 interview on 31 December . A 33-year-old engineer has admitted killing Miss Yeates. Dutchman Vincent Tabak has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder. Tabak, who lived next door to Yeates, is due to go on trial accused of murder at Bristol crown court in October. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . National newspapers Newspapers & magazines Newspapers Joanna Yeates Contempt of court Media law Jason Deans guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 5, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.