At the same time the Leamington and Warwick Courier has successfully campaigned for its local police force to change its policy on releasing pictures of serious criminals, the Crown Prosecution Service was delivering its own, less welcome news.
Its new guidelines prevent journalists from being given access to background material used in evidence at trials – audio and video footage of police interviews with suspects, CCTV footage, and transcripts of interviews with suspects or witnesses.
The reason? Unspecified “concerns” arising from “a number” of unspecified cases.
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Even the guidelines themselves will not be released to the media, who were not consulted about the change.
One step forward, two steps back for open justice.
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