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...

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