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Deceased child victims should not be named by media, Court of Appeal rules

Summary

The Court of Appeal rejected an application by several media outlets to name a woman who smothered her three‑year‑old child to death with a pillow. The woman had been found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity in a short trial in October last year. Two High Court judges had ordered that the deceased child should not be identified, and the Court of Appeal upheld that order. Paul Murray SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, had argued that Section 252 of the Children Act 2001 makes it an offence to publish anything that could identify a child who is an alleged victim of an offence, including a deceased child. The media argued that the Act does not cover a deceased child and that the order protected the mother rather than the child. Mr Justice George Birmingham, President of the three‑judge Court of Appeal, found that the judges had properly applied the law.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Deceased child victims should not be named by media, Court of Appeal rules. Procedural stage: appeal

When:

• 2020-10-29 Publication

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Appeal Violent Crime

Read the original CNI report