Cases

WB v H Bauer Publishing Ltd

Facts

The claimant had been charged with rape but acquitted when the trial judge ruled that DNA evidence against him had been retained unlawfully by the police. The Attorney General appealed against the ruling by way a reference on a point of law. Pursuant to the Criminal Appeal (References of Points of Law) Rules 1973 the House of Lords made an order prohibiting the claimant from being identified. The Times subsequently published two articles about the case which named the claimant. These reports were picked up by the defendant which also published an article in its weekly magazine in which the claimant’s identity was disclosed. The defendant’s evidence was that it was not aware of the House of Lords’ order.

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