The High Court granted a limited injunction over information the Sunday Times intended to publish about Patrick Mc Killen’s banking relationship with IBRC and his commercial relationship with Denis O'Brien. It refused to restrain publication of the fact that a further loan had been extended to Mc Killen, including the amount and purpose identified in the intended report.
The applications arose from separate but related proceedings brought by Mc Killen and O'Brien against Times Newspapers Limited and journalist Mark Tighe. The two applications were heard together. The plaintiffs said the information was confidential; the judgment records that confidentiality was not seriously denied by the newspaper.
The court considered the competing interests in protecting banking confidences and allowing publication on matters of public interest. It rejected the plaintiffs’ submission that confidential information could be disclosed only to expose iniquity or misdeeds. The judge held that public interest disclosure was not confined to that category.
For an interlocutory order restricting press freedom, the judge applied the test stated in Murray v. Newsgroup Newspapers Ltd.: the plaintiffs had to show a convincing case, supported by proper evidence, that they were likely to establish at trial that the publication should not be allowed. The judge accepted that the plaintiffs would lose the confidentiality they sought to protect. He found a second claimed category of loss insufficiently particularised.
The newspaper argued that publication would serve a significant public interest because IBRC had been bailed out with public money and its operations were effectively a public interest matter. The intended information fell into three categories: internal opinions expressed by bank officials, the fact of a further loan to Mc Killen, and information about the commercial relationship between Mc Killen and O'Brien.
Balancing the interests at this interlocutory stage, the judge found sufficient public interest to allow publication of the fact that the further loan had been granted. He restrained publication of internal opinions communicated by bank officials and information about the commercial relationship between Mc Killen and O'Brien. The judgment does not determine the underlying proceedings or finally resolve the parties’ claims.