DPP attacks tabloids for sensationalising crimes

TOUGHER laws must be brought in to stop the tabloid press sensationalising crimes before the case comes to trial, Director of Public Prosecutions James Hamilton said yesterday.

Mr Hamilton said that recent prejudicial comments by some papers in one particular case lead to a judge ruling against the DPP.

“We are importing this sensationalism from the British tabloid press here and it is not good. The law needs to be changed to stop this kind of reporting,” Mr Hamilton told the UCC Law Society conference.

The DPP said that one of the main threats to the independence of his office has come from press campaigns when they are making a dispassionate decision on whether or not to proceed with a case.

“Some of the press reporting has been wrong and the impression it conveys is that people are trying to interfere with a criminal investigation,” Mr Hamilton added.

The DPP also said the tabloid press is failing to protect the privacy of individuals, particularly those who have a high profile.

“I have had to invoke the contempt of court Act in several cases here because of the reporting of the upcoming trial,” the DPP added.

The current law states that the press can report on the details of a criminal case until someone has been charged with it, but Mr Hamilton believes this should be changed to stop the press reporting on a case if it is known that a charge is imminent. This is the case in Britain and it should also be made a contempt of court charge here.

Among speakers at the UCC Law Society’s fourth annual conference were Sunday World Crime Correspondent Paul Williams, Dr Gerald Kean, of Kean solicitors, Dublin, and barrister Timothy O’Leary.