THE High Court yesterday gave permission for a review of reporting restrictions imposed by a Circuit Court judge on what was described as the most important drugs trial for many years.
Mr Justice Geoghegan granted leave to four newspaper groups to seek a judicial review of an order by Judge Anthony Murphy to ban day to day news media coverage of the trials of four foreigners at Cork Circuit Criminal Court during the week.
The judge gave leave to serve notice on Judge Murphy, the DPP and solicitors for the four foreigners that the matter would come before the court on Monday.
The drugs trials, expected to last several weeks, involve the seizure of cocaine worth £47 million, in Cork Harbour last September.
The Irish Times Ltd, Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd, the Examiner and News Group Newspapers Ltd applied for a judicial review of Judge Murphy's decision. Mr Justice Geoghegan said that, while most reluctant to grant leave during criminal trials, he believed the applicants had an arguable case.
When the criminal trials opened before Judge Murphy on Tuesday of the accused Mr Gordon Richards (52), of North Hill Cottage, South Mill Lane, Brighton, pleaded guilty to charges of having cocaine for supply and with importing the drug. Mr Richards's case has been set aside and will not be dealt with until the present hearings involving four other accused persons has been completed.
On Wednesday, Judge Murphy ordered a ban on daily reporting. He later rejected applications on behalf of The Irish Times, Irish Independent, Examiner and RTE to have the ban lifted.
Judge Murphy had said the interests of the media were secondary to the interests of the accused one of whom was an Irish citizen or close to home. The bar on publicity was not to hold the trial in camera. The doors of the courts: were open and the public had the right to be present.
He had said that on Tuesday a report had come to his attention suggesting that a jury in the case was about to be sworn in. This had led potential jurors to drop what they were doing and come to the courthouse. After the jury had been sworn in, a Cork evening paper, said Judge Murphy, combined a report of its efforts to have the ban lifted when the application was only made at 4.30 p.m., after the paper was on the streets.
Yesterday Mr John Gordon SC for The Irish Times, read an affidavit by Ms Fiona Hunt, solicitor, who said she was told that Judge Murphy had stated that members of the press were free to record the proceedings of the trial and report them once the trial had been completed.
She said her clients were extremely concerned and alarmed at the making of a pre emptive order prohibiting the press from exercising its rights to freedom of expression and its rights to fairly and accurately report the conduct of the proceedings.
Ms Hunt said no danger to the administration of justice or to a fair trial of the accused was posed by fair and accurate reporting.
Mr Justice Geoghegan said there was the point on whether the High Court should interfere with a trial judge during a trial. Obviously, the four applicants had an arguable case, but the worry was interfering with a trial judge who was being asked to make a reply by Monday.