Sarah Everard: How commenting on social media could land you in contempt of court

Date15 March 2021
Published date15 March 2021
Publication titleWalesOnline (Wales)
Such commentary is an understandable response. There is a danger, though, that any public suggestion that the person arrested is guilty – or, indeed, innocent – of a crime may amount to a contempt of court. This is a concern for all reporters – but is a particular hazard for users of social media who, unlike trained journalists, may be unaware of the rules of contempt.

A past case of contempt of court illustrates the danger, though it concerned the press rather than social media. In 2010, Christopher Jefferies was arrested for the murder of his tenant and neighbour, Joanna Yeates. Some media outlets began to trash his reputation in a way which suggested he was guilty. For example, the Daily Mirror falsely claimed on its front page that he was a “peeping Tom”. And the Sun’s front page referred to him as “The strange Mr Jefferies” while the inside pages stated that he was “weird” and “creepy”.

Jefferies was, in fact, wholly innocent. Another man, Vincent Tabak, was later arrested and convicted of Yeates’ murder.

Both the Daily Mirror and the Sun were subsequently held to be in contempt of court. This is because their stories about Jefferies created substantial risks to the course of justice. If there had been a trial, its impartiality could have been significantly damaged by their reporting. The papers were fined £50,000 and £18,000 respectively.

Forms of contempt

There are various types of contempt of court but they all exist to protect the authority, impartiality and fairness of court trials. The type of contempt in the Jefferies case – and which I write about here – is known as “contempt by publication”. It exists to ensure that cases are tried only on the basis of evidence that is heard – and which may be challenged and tested – in the court room, rather than on the basis of rumour, gossip, insinuation or anything else that is external to the trial but which may influence the outcome.

This type of contempt is governed by the Contempt of Court Act 1981. It’s committed when a publication creates a “substantial risk” that a trial may be “seriously impeded or prejudiced”. The act defines publication as any “communication in whatever form, which is addressed to the public at large or any section of the public”.

This clearly includes social media – and this is why I say that the users of social media are a particular concern. Unlike trained journalists, many social media users will be unaware of the law of contempt and how it restricts what they should post or...

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