A MAN was given an 11 month jail sentence yesterday for assaulting a journalist in court. The judge rejected a defence solicitor's suggestion that reporters who sat near defendants while covering court cases were putting themselves in the firing line.
Before the Dublin District Court was Patrick Kinch (27), of no fixed abode, who pleaded guilty to assaulting a reporter, Ms Aigeen Sutton, at Kilmainham District Court on April 22nd.
Garda John Wilson of Kilmainham Garda station said Kinch had become agitated after being remanded in custody for six weeks by the court. The reporter as sitting on a bench in front of the dock and he lashed out punching her in the face.
The defence solicitor, Mr Neil McNelis, said his client had been distressed, and when he saw Ms Sutton taking notes on the case he reached over to take her notebook, striking her in the face as he did so.
When asked by Mr McNelis if Ms Sutton was sitting in the court's press box or an area reserved for solicitors, Garda Wilson said she was sitting in an area where gardai, solicitors and journalists sat.
Mr McNelis said his client apologised for the incident adding: "It does happen that journalists who sit near accused persons are putting themselves in the line of fire."
But Judge Terence Finn rejected Mr McNelis's claim, saying that journalists, like any other members of the public, were entitled to sit where they liked in a court room. He said the fact that Ms Sutton sat near the accused was not a "mitigating matter".
He added that reporters were also entitled to report on the proceedings of any court in the public interest. This was enshrined in the principle of openness.
The judge said he hoped the incident had not caused the reporter too much upset and that she would be, back reporting in the courts again.