Journalist could face jail over alleged injunction breach on Twitter

A well-known UK journalist and television personality faces a potential prison sentence for allegedly naming a footballer protected by a superinjunction on Twitter.

The attorney general, Dominic Grieve (pictured) has reportedly been asked to look into a possible criminal prosecution over the journalists' tweets, which may breach the superinjunction obtained by the footballer.

If the journalist were to be found guilty of contempt of court he could face up to two years in prison.

The footballer in this case, known in the courts as "TSE", is not the same player known as "CTB", who obtained an injunction to protect his identity in relation to an alleged affair with model Imogen Thomas.

The attorney general's office said this morning that it had not yet received the request and  but would "consider the matter carefully and take action if necessary".

The spokesman added: "The attorney general does not have a general enforcement role in the case of civil injunctions."

The attorney general's office also confirmed this would be the first instance of a judicial referral concerning a privacy injunction breach on Twitter.

According to the Mail on Sunday, Mr Justice Tugendhat, one of the UK's leading privacy judges, was told an unnamed person had used Twitter to identify "TSE", an England national player.

Tugendhat was then asked by the footballer's lawyers to pass the case on to the attorney general.

The journalist told the MoS yesterday: "Basically at this point I can't say anything at all because it might be in contempt of court. I wouldn't care a ****, I'd say what I think, but if it's a possibility of me [going to prison]...

"And there was a quote I noticed from the lawyers today, Schillings, saying, "No one's going to go to prison over this", but we don't know that. Because it could be contempt of court, I think it would be stupid to say anything at all."

"TSE" is understood to be represented by libel and privacy specialists Schillings, the same law firm representing the footballer "CTB".

Earlier in the week Mr Justice Eady upheld the right of "CTB" to remain anonymous after Thomas and the Sun newspaper went to the high court in an attempt to overturn the injunction.

However, the player is believed to be the same "CTB" that began legal proceedings against Twitter on Wednesday, after which he was repeatedly named on the social networking site.

Yesterday the Sunday Herald in Scotland printed a full front-page picture of a player the it alleges to be "CTB".

Herald editor Richard Walker told Journalism.co.uk that he "did not take the decision lightly" but did it to highlight "the ridiculous situation that newspapers currently face, in that they can't publish information that everyone can access within seconds".

Image by the Attorney General's Office. Some rights reserved.

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