Scotland
Editor, reporter prosecuted for contemptPosted Feb 25 2007
The Crown Office of Scotland is prosecuting Peter Wright, editor of The Mail on Sunday, and Scottish reporter Alan Caldwell for contempt of court after publishing an interview with a key witness in an ongoing murder trial. Peter Tobin is accused of murdering Polish student Angelina Kluk whose body was found in a Catholic church in Glasgow last September. The Crown Office had repeatedly warned the Scottish media about publishing articles linked to the Tobin case and had reminded editors as recently as Feb. 2 about the risks of being prosecuted. Contempt cases in Scotland are rare, even though Scottish judges are known to take a tougher stance on gagging orders than English courts. In a 1999 contempt case, a precedent was established when charges against The Daily Record were thrown out after judges said there needed to be a very substantial risk of prejudice to justify a contempt conviction.