Contempt of court proceedings against two media organisations over their coverage of the George Redmond corruption trial are being considered by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
It emerged this morning during the sentencing hearing of the former Dublin city and county manager on two charges of corruption that the DPP had been submitted a videotape of a news poll on an Irish television station and copies of an article in a Sunday newspaper.
Mr Brendan Grehan, SC for Redmond, had complained of the "adverse media publicity" his client had received since he was convicted on November 19th. Aspects of Redmond's life had been "trawled" through in various print and broadcast articles, many of which contained "salacious comment" about him.
He said he had written to the DPP about two issues in particular. One was a poll on a television station - which was not named in court - asking viewers whether or not Redmond should be jailed for his crimes. The second was the headline of an article in a Sunday newspaper - also unnamed - quoting an anonymous "professional lawyer" who said the 79-year-old deserved to go to prison.
These issues, the court was told, constituted "grave contempt of court". Mr Grehan also argued there was legal precedent for his assertion that such contempt was possible during the interval between conviction and sentencing.
Redmond's trial was initially scheduled to begin last June. However, his lawyers successfully applied to have it halted because of the media attention it was receiving, and Mr Justice Michael White postponed the proceedings for six months to allow for the "fade factor".
Mr Justice White sent letters to media organisations on July 16th and 17th warning of his intent to prosecute for contempt should they breach his guidelines on covering the case.
He said this morning he believed the two issues being considered by the DPP "show profound disrespect to the system of justice".
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