View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Comment
January 13, 2016

Why Sun’s ‘I killed them’ front page on alleged EastEnders actress killer was safe under Contempt of Court

By Cleland Thom

I think most people would agree that The Sun’s front page story about the arrest of Arthur Simpson-Kent for an alleged triple murder stood a chance of prejudicing his trial!

After all, the heading ‘I killed them’, and the accompanying story about the killing of ex-EastEnders actress Sian Blake and her two sons, certainly created a substantial risk of serious prejudice.

So will The Sun get away with it?

Yes – definitely.

And so will other national media who published stories that might be expected to raise the Attorney General’s eyebrows.

Their coverage was safe, because proceedings under the Contempt of Court Act 1981 were inactive.

Legally, proceedings are activated by an arrest, or the issuing of a warrant.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

But Simpson-Kent was arrested in Ghana, so COCA was irrelevant.

And the UK authorities do not need a warrant to extradite him from a non-EU country. The request is dealt with by official papers.

If the Ghanaian court grants extradition, Simpson-Kent will be brought back to the UK and charged. And that’s when proceedings will become active.

The situation would be different if he had been arrested within the EU. Then the issue of a European Arrest Warrant would activate proceedings.

Cleland Thom is a media law consultant and trainer

Topics in this article : ,

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network