Several media outlets were criticised at the opening of day three of hearings in the Sofronoff inquiry for improperly reporting damaging and highly defamatory rumours about Brittany Higgins.
On Wednesday morning, Mark Tedeschi KC, who is representing chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold SC at the inquiry, told chair Walter Sofronoff KC an immediate non-publication order over the relevant material — which he described as “office scuttlebutt” — was necessary in light of the propensity of certain media outlets to misuse the material.
The material in question was attached to a police review report and contained references to rumours about Higgins’ alleged sexual activity, which was never admitted at trial.
“It was portrayed as being something that the police had found out,” Tedeschi said. “The advice is, firstly, it would be extremely distressing to Ms Higgins. Secondly, it would tend to discourage any future complainants from bringing complaints of sexual misconduct or assault to the attention of police.
“It’s precisely the reason why the criminal justice system of every jurisdiction in Australia has sought to prevent such information being part of a criminal trial.”
Beyond a non-publication order, Tedeschi requested that Sofronoff make some “suitable comments” about the responsibility of the media to report this inquiry with “responsibility and sympathy”.
Sofronoff had opened public hearings on Monday with an express request to media to ensure “nobody is harmed unnecessarily” in the reporting of the inquiry.
On Wednesday morning, Sofronoff made a non-publication order over the material for all future publications, noting he was aware certain media publications had “repeated propositions” from documents published on the inquiry’s website in a “defamatory” way. He also indicated that he would hear submissions on whether the suppression order ought to be extended to existing publications.
Crikey did not report the offending material.
The inquiry continues.
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