Joanna Yeates case: High court approves contempt action against Sun and Mirror

The high court has granted an application from attorney general Dominic Grieve to begin proceedings against the Sun and the Daily Mirror over the newspapers' coverage of the death of Joanna Yeates.

Contempt of court cases against newspapers are rare, but at a permission hearing in the high court this morning Lord Justice Dobbs and Mrs Justice Moses gave the green light for the attorney general to pursue a trial.

Neither News International subsidiary News Group Newspapers, which publishes the Sun, nor Trinity Mirror's Mirror Group Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mirror, submitted evidence at this morning's hearing.

No date was set today for the commencement of a trial, but it will be at least three weeks away as the publishers have 14 days to file evidence, after which the Attorney General has a further seven days to respond.

An application to the high court for permission to take action against the publishers claimed that the impact of the newspapers' coverage "could hardly be greater in relation to all the articles in terms of their prominence, presentation, subject matter, the use of photographs, other visual techniques, emotive language, the extent of the coverage on the issue in question and their general message".

Grieve issued a warning to the media during heavy coverage in the wake of Jefferies arrest, a few days after the discovery of Yeates' body on Christmas Day.

He told Radio 4's World at One programme: "We need to avoid a situation where trials cannot take place or are prejudiced as a result of irrelevant or improper material being published, whether in print form or on the internet, in such a way that a trial becomes impossible."

If found guilty, the newspapers could face fines and individual staff prison sentences of up to two years.

Despite the relative rarity of contempt of court cases against newspapers, this will be the second in as many months. The Sun and the Daily Mail were found guilty of contempt in March after publishing a photograph online of a suspect in a murder trial carrying a handgun.

Grieve, who led the case against the Sun and Daily Mail, urged the media at the time to remember the contempt of court act, warning: "I won't hesitate to prosecute."

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