Carl Johnstone

#Southport stabbings It’s a few days that’s all the public has to wait for the press to go to court and make a considered application to the Crown Court for this person to be named Until that’s done it would be very helpful for everyone if this kind of speculation just stopped @PriorKc CBA Vice Chair to @bbc5live @BBCNews @NickyAACampbell It’s the danger when people are being assaulted and are grouping together on the premise that a particular person of a particular faith, is responsible for an incident when in fact that information might be completely inaccurate - there is no means of properly checking it. What we do know is someone was named who is in fact nothing to do with this incident. There is a rush always for someone to be the first person to identify - breaking the law, and putting a number of people at risk. Mary Prior KC (MPKC) @PriorKc vice chair @TheCriminalBar in conversation with BBC Radio 5 Live Nicky Campbell (NC) regarding the Southport stabbings and the naming of a suspect across social media sites and wider identifying risks in criminal cases and the law. NK “There was a text earlier on that somewhat riled me - a text earlier that said “ the child murderer has lost all anonymity name him!” that was Eddie in Hitchin. Just explain why you can’t do that” MPKC Because you’d be arrested. Because you’d commit a crime- the law at the moment is that the press cannot report the name or indeed anything which might identify a child - that ia a person who is under 18 year of age in law - unless an application been made in the Courtto remove automatic reporting restrictions and so if you were to name him you and the BBC would be breaking the law NK “Suspected child murderer” NK “If someone let’s generalise it if someone is 15 16 or 17 when they commit a crime can they be named once they are 18 or does it relate to how old they were when they committed the crime. I am thinking for example - a completely different situation obviously, but I’m talking the law here - the James Bulger killers , they’ve never been named.” MPKC “You can be named when you are 18 yes” NK Does that require an application by the media? MPKC yes sometimes. It very much depends on the circumstance of case. In the James Bulger case the limits were that there were significant fears that perpetrators to the violence to that little boy would become victims themselves to homicide if they were named. In most cases once a person accused of a crime becomes 18 they can be named. In any event just because someone is under the age of 18 does not mean that the automatic press reactions which applies before charge and which applies in their very first hearing In the Youth court continues to apply when they get to the crown court. Once an accused person under age of 18 gets to crown court a judge there has to make a decision balancing the strong public interest in naming in naming a person and the welfare of the young child in question. But the mere fact that the child is under 18 is not enough to continue that press restriction and there is no presumption once the case gets to the crown court that that restriction will continue NK “On jigsaw identity…” MPKC “ there are two dangers it seems to me; the first is by media coverage of the young person’s parents their heritage, where they live and when they moved - it wouldn’t take a genius to work out who the person who is in custody is and who his family is. But in addition to that there is also a risk that someone else may be misidentified and that young person and that family may be at risk. It’s the inherent danger of not just waiting a few days to allow the press to do the job they do extremely well which is to report the news fairly and accurately.” bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0021j…