Quintin Jardine's blog

While still on the law, I am struck by the way in which things change. There was a time when certain actions were absolutely forbidden in Scotland during the course of a criminal trial. One was the publication of any photograph of an accused before the conclusion of the trial. Publications who broke this rule could expect to be, and were, fined  for contempt of court. As recently as 2007, the Daily Record was hit with a fine; its owners sought a judicial review, but the principle was upheld. This morning, when I opened my on-line Herald, I saw on the front page an image of a woman accused of murder. This hadn’t been pulled out of the paper;s library either; she was wearing the clothes described in the report of her hearing and worse, she was in handcuffs. This case is at a relatively early stage, and hasn’t even gone to trial. I’ll watch with interest for any fall-out.