SUB JUDICE BREACH:RTÉ WILL have to pay a total of €40,000 to four charities in lieu of a fine as a penalty for broadcasting comments about the case during the trial, potentially prejudicing proceedings.
A retired senior member of the Garda discussed the facts of a €2.28 million tiger kidnapping robbery with presenter Rachel English on the Marian Finucane Showlast July, while the 66-day trial of five accused men was continuing.
Judge Tony Hunt accepted the broadcaster did not intend to breach the sub judice rule, which restricts media comment when court cases are going on or pending and at high risk of prejudice.
He further accepted RTÉ’s apology for “providing a platform” for retired detective inspector Brian Sherry’s comments, which he noted contained “an element of malice”.
The judge said Mr Sherry was a “bad choice” of contributor on that show and that the platform provided by RTÉ “shouldn’t be flagrantly abused in this manner”.
David Keane SC, for RTÉ, said he wished to renew the apologies expressed last July and stressed that there had been an “absence of deliberate intent” on his client’s side.
Judge Hunt accepted RTÉ took full responsibility and removed the programme from the internet soon after the issue was raised in court. He ordered that RTÉ pay €10,000 each to the Society of St Vincent de Paul, the Simon Community, the Merchants Quay Project and the Peter McVerry Trust.
Mr Keane said his client was “happy” to express its remorse by donating to charity.
The trial ran to 66 days and the jury took a total of 22 hours to find three men guilty on all counts. The jurors failed to reach a verdict on two other accused.
Before sentencing began yesterday, Ciaran O'Loughlin SC, counsel for one of the accused, said a story that appeared in last week's Sunday Worldnewspaper was a clear attempt to put pressure on the judge to impose a lengthy sentence. Judge Hunt said he took a "very grave view of this" but added: "I'm long past the stage in my life where I pay a blind bit of notice to what the Sunday Worldhas to say."