Christopher Jefferies, the former landlord of Bristol murder victim Joanna Yeates, is suing a number of national newspapers for libel and invasion of privacy.
According to a statement released by his lawyers this afternoon, newspapers facing legal action over their coverage in December 2010 and January 2011 include: The Sun, Daily Mirror, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Star ‘and others”.
The statement said: ‘Mr Jefferies will be seeking vindication of his reputation for the terrible treatment he received. Mr Jefferies will not be making any statement about these claims until their conclusion, which he hopes will be in the very near future.
Jefferies was questioned by police investigating the murder of Yeates but later released without charge.
This led to a huge amount of media coverage about Jefferies – some of which was seen by some as wrongly implying he was guilty.
Last month Attorney General Dominic Grieve warned that pressure for a change in the law could grow because of what he called ‘frenzied interest’in high-profile arrests.
Backbench Tory MP Anna Soubry withdrew a Private Member’s Bill earlier this year intended to give suspects in criminal proceedings anonymity between the time of their arrest and a charge being brought after the Government said it would re-examine the law on contempt of court.
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