SYDNEY NEWSPAPERS FINED

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21511, 28 June 1935, Page 17

SYDNEY NEWSPAPERS FINED

——<©• CONTEMPT OF COURT I j ASSUMPTION OF MURDER I IN SMITH CASK | (Received June 27, 11.40 p.m.) SYDNEY, June 27. In a reserved judgment on the charges of contempt of court against the "Sun" and "Telegraph'' l'or publication of certain statements about the death of Reginald Holmes, Mr Justice Halse Rogers imposed two fines of £IOO each on Sun Newspapers, Ltd., which published both newspapers, fie also fined the editors of the two newspapers £25 each. The judge ordered that the fines, with costs, should bo paid within two days. He said the assumption in the reports in both journals that James Smith had been murdered was calculated to influence, at least subconsciously, the minds of all who read it. It assumed a matter which might become controversial at the trial of a person charged with murder. It assumed a matter which the Crown would first have to prove. That method of writing was certainly very dangerous. It was the duty of the editor or some responsible person on any newspaper to instruct reporters about the limitations on the publication of what were called crime stories.