Newspapers fined €20,000 each after ‘contempt of court’

TWO newspaper organisations were fined €20,000 each by the High Court yesterday following a decision last week that articles published in two newspapers in 2003 were in contempt of court.

The hearing had been adjourned until yesterday to hear submissions as to the appropriate penalty.

The €20,000 fines were imposed on Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd arising from an article in the Irish Independent on April 29, 2003; and on Sunday Newspapers Ltd following an article in the Sunday World on May 3, 2003.