Permission granted for contempt action against Sky News

A high court judge has granted permission to the attorney general to launch a contempt case against Sky News over its coverage of the release of British hostages Paul and Rachel Chandler.

The judge made his decision at a permission hearing this morning.

The Chandlers were kidnapped by Somali pirates in October 2009 while travelling on their yacht between the Seychelles and Tanzania. They were held captive for 13 months before being freed on 14 November.

The attorney general Dominic Grieve will now undertake proceedings against Sky News for allegedly breaching an injunction on the day of the couple's release that prevented the press from reporting any details about their welfare until after they were in safe territory.

In his application to the court on behalf of the attorney general, David Perry QC said that intensive coverage of the case had "damaged" efforts to secure the release of the Chandlers, leading to an injunction preventing media outlets from reporting of any information about their health or welfare before they had left Somalia.

The application states that Sky News, having established that the couple had reached a town in Somalia called Adado, reported the fact. The broadcaster has admitted breaching "the letter of the injunction" but declined to comment further.

Grieve has already brought several contempt cases against the UK media during his 18 months as attorney general, including a successful prosecution of the Sun and the Daily Mirror in July over their coverage of the arrest of Joanna Yeates, Chris Jefferies.

Last month he launched a case against the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail over coverage of the trial of Levi Bellfield, the man convicted of murdering schoolgirl Milly Dowler in 2006.

Grieve may also prosecute the Spectator magazine over an article by columnist Rod Liddle published last week. The article was referred to the attorney general by the judge in the Stephen Lawrence murder trial, who instructed the members of the jury not to read it.

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