HM Attorney General v The Times Newspapers Ltd
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | The President of the Queen's Bench Division |
| Judgment Date | 13 November 2012 |
| Neutral Citation | [2012] EWHC 3195 (Admin) |
| Docket Number | Case No: CO/1730/2012 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court) |
| Date | 13 November 2012 |
[2012] EWHC 3195 (Admin)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
DIVISIONAL COURT
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
President of the Queen's Bench Division
and
Mr Justice Eady
Case No: CO/1730/2012
Dominic Grieve QC, Her Majesty's Attorney General, and Philip HaversQC (instructed by Treasury Solicitor) for the Claimant
Gavin Millar QC (instructed by The Legal Department, Times Newspapers) for the Defendant
Hearing date: 31 July 2012
This is the judgment of the court to which we have each contributed.
Introduction
On Monday 10 October 2011, Nicola Edgington (NE) was charged with the murder that day of Mrs Sally Hodkin by stabbing and the attempted murder that day of Ms Kerry Clark.
Two days later, on Wednesday 12 October 2011, The Times published on its front page an article entitled KNIFE-ATTACK WOMAN STABBED HER ELDERLY MOTHER TO DEATH. It continued on the inside page under the heading ALLEGED KNIFE KILLER STABBED HER ELDERLY MOTHER TO DEATH referring to a fatal stabbing which NE was alleged to have carried out on Monday 10 October 2011. A further article was headed KILLER FREED AFTER 3 YEARS : ANALYSIS. Both articles set out details of her previous conviction for the killing of her mother in November 2005, the order for her detention in a secure hospital made in October 2006 and her release.
Those representing NE, who had been committed for trial at the Central Criminal Court on charges of murder and attempted murder, asked the claimant (the Attorney General) to consider whether the publication was a contempt of court under the strict liability rule set out in s.2(2) of the Contempt of Court Act 1981. On 24 October 2011, the Attorney General wrote to the defendants (Times Newspapers), publishers of The Times, seeking their comments. After taking their response into account, the Attorney General sought the leave of the court to commence proceedings for contempt. That leave was granted by the Divisional Court on 24 April 2012; on 13 July 2012 further leave was granted to enable a secondary case to be advanced.
Since it has not been suggested that the editor or any relevant journalist had an intention to interfere with the administration of justice, there arises no question of contempt at common law for which it would be necessary to prove the requisite mens rea. The court is thus concerned only with the issue of whether the Attorney General is able to prove that one or more of the published articles infringed the provisions for strict liability contempt contained within ss.1 and 2 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981. More specifically, can he so establish "a publication which created a substantial risk that the course of justice in the proceedings in question will be seriously impeded or prejudiced" within the meaning of s.2(2)? The proceedings in question must be active at the time of publication.
It is first necessary to summarise, as appears from the evidence before us, the factual background relating to the "proceedings in question". It is common ground that proceedings against NE were active. The evidence comprised the clear and helpful statements of Mr Michael Jennings, a legal adviser to the Attorney General and Ms Fiona Hamilton the crime correspondent for The Times.
The factual background as at the date of publication
In early November 2005, following a miscarriage, NE stabbed her mother, Marion Edgington (aged 60), several times in the back and neck inflicting fatal injuries. The killing took place at her mother's home.
In 2006 NE pleaded guilty at Lewes Crown Court to the manslaughter of her mother on grounds of diminished responsibility. NE was made the subject of a hospital order under s.37 of the Mental Health Act 1983 after hearing evidence from two psychiatrists.
It appears on the evidence before this court that in 2009 NE was released from hospital into the community on condition that she would continue to take anti-psychotic medication. As at 10 October 2011 she was living at Ambekar House in Greenwich, South London with assistance from the NHS Oxleas Foundation Trust which provides support and accommodation to adults with mental health issues who live in South East London. NE was being seen by mental health professionals at least weekly.
The evidence upon which the Crown will rely in relation to the charges of murder and attempted murder is, in outline, the following:
i) NE had before 10 October 2011 suffered another miscarriage. During the pregnancy she had not been taking her anti-psychotic medication.
ii) At 04.30 hours on 10 October 2011 NE presented herself to the A&E Department at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich. She was in a distressed state and said that she needed somewhere to sleep and a place of safety.
iii) Before an assessment had been completed by the Mental Health Team, and whilst a bed was being prepared for her, she left the hospital without telling anyone where she was going.
iv) The police were alerted by the hospital, but found that she was not at her home address. The police were told that she should be tracked down urgently.
v) Shortly before 08.30 on Monday 10 October 2011 NE purchased a knife from a supermarket in the Broadway, Bexleyheath, a busy shopping street with a shopping centre and a transport hub through which numerous buses run. Her purchase of the knife is recorded on CCTV. After purchasing the knife, she took it out of its packaging and went back into the street.
vi) She approached a young woman, Ms Kerry Clark, standing at a bus stop outside Snappy Snaps. NE raised the knife above Ms Clark's head. Ms Clark fearing that NE might kill her jumped back and grabbed the knife injuring her hand in the process. Both women fell to the floor. NE demanded the knife back from Ms Clark, but she held on to it. NE walked away. Some of this attack is recorded on CCTV. This attack gave rise to the charge of attempted murder.
vii) NE then crossed to the other side of the Broadway and went towards the junction of the Broadway and Albion Road. This is again recorded on CCTV.
viii) Near to the junction she went into the British Meat Market butchers store at 195 Broadway. She took a second knife. She came out of the butchers and went further down the Broadway turning left into Albion Road. Outside the Ten Pins bowling alley (which is about 100 yards down Albion Road) she approached Mrs Sally Hodkin, a grandmother and an accounts manager at a local solicitors firm, from behind. NE stabbed Mrs Hodkin twice in the neck with the knife and then a third time as Mrs Hodkin fell to the ground; some of this attack is also recorded on CCTV. Mrs Hodkin died at the scene.
ix) As recorded on CCTV, NE then ran back in the direction from which she came and entered a tile shop. The police found her there. She had blood on her hands. According to the police officers at the scene she said, "It was me I did it". She told the officers where the knife was. She made other statements in relation to her condition. She was arrested for both attacks. Mental health specialists at the police station assessed NE as fit to be detained but not to be interviewed. NE was charged with the murder of Mrs Hodkin and the attempted murder of Ms Clark.
On 11 October 2011 NE was taken to Greenwich Magistrates' Court. The evidence before us was that she was not brought into the courtroom because a psychiatrist considered her too unwell. Her case was sent for trial at the Central Criminal Court.
On 13 October 2011, she appeared at the Central Criminal Court; she was remanded in custody at the secure hospital to which she had been transferred. A Plea and Case Management Hearing took place on 17 January 2012; the trial was initially fixed for 2 July 2012. However on 26 June 2012, the trial was adjourned until January 2013. She has pleaded not guilty to both charges, though the Attorney General's skeleton argument set out the understanding that "she has pleaded guilty or has indicated her intention to plead guilty to manslaughter… on the basis of diminished responsibility, but that the Crown has rejected the plea".
The Articles in The Times
The article on the front page under the heading KNIFE-ATTACK WOMAN STABBED HER ELDERLY MOTHER TO DEATH was accompanied by a large photograph of NE with the caption, "[NE], 31, pictured above after killing her mother in 2005, was unable to attend court yesterday because of her 'extreme' mental health problems". The article stated:
"A woman who allegedly killed a grandmother in an apparently random attack had been discharged from a secure psychiatric hospital after killing her mother. [NE] was ordered by a Judge to be detained indefinitely in October 2006, but was conditionally released after doctors' reports and ministerial approval in 2009.
On Monday, about 90 minutes after she sought to be readmitted to hospital, she allegedly used a stolen butcher's knife to kill Sally Hodkin, 59, on a busy shopping street. She is also accused of slashing the hand of Kerry Clark who was waiting for a bus in Bexleyheath, South East London.
It has emerged that [NE]… is a schizophrenic who killed her mother, Marion, on November 4 2005. Lewes Crown Court was told that [NE] attacked her 60 year old mother after a family gathering at her home near East Grinstead, West Sussex. She stabbed her nine times in the face, neck, chest, shoulders and upper body. It was said that she blamed her mother for having one of her two children taken into care. [NE] admitted manslaughter on the...
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