Chorley and Leyland Guardian Overturns Name Ban

The Chorley and Leyland Guardian succeeded in having a reporting restriction lifted which banned the name of a young man charged with causing death by dangerous driving from being reported by the paper.

At a hearing at Bolton Crown Court on Friday, editor Chris Maguire made a submission to judge William Morris arguing that a Section 4(2) Order under the Contempt of Court Act 1981 preventing the naming of the defendant should be lifted.

Chris argued that the order should not be in place as the defendant’s name was widely available through internet searches and outlined the steps the paper had taken to report the case fairly to ensure the coverage didn’t cause any ‘serious prejudice’ to the future court case.

The Section 4(2) Order was imposed after an arson attack on the defendant’s home.

At that time the paper had chosen not to publish the defendant’s full address, pictures of him or his house, despite the information being available elsewhere.

Chris said: “This was a victory for common sense. This case has dragged on for 18 months and the order made reporting it almost impossible. All we wanted to do is report it fairly and accurately.”

Judge William Morris lifted the order on the defendant’s name but kept it in place in relation to his full address.

Lifting the order, the judge praised the  “informative and extremely helpful” letter that had been drafted by the NS’ political editorial and legal affairs department which set out the legal basis for the challenge.

The defendant’s trial will be held next year.

For more information please contact Paul Sinker on 020 7632 7424 or e-mail sinkerp@newspapersoc.org.uk.