Paper banned from printing killer's photo

A murderer and sex offender has won a permanent ban against his picture appearing in the media in a landmark press freedom case in Northern Ireland.

The High Court in Belfast ruled the Belfast Sunday Life, a sister paper of The Independent, could not publish unpixelated photos of Kenneth Callaghan. The paper had argued publishing the pictures would help the public avoid him after his release.

Mr Justice Stephens said Callaghan posed a low to medium risk of re-offending and that publishing the images would disrupt the support networks put in place under a pre-release scheme in which he was taking part. That in turn could increase his chances of reoffending.

Callaghan admitted the 1987 murder and sexual assault of Carol Gouldie, 21. Martin Breen, the executive editor of Sunday Life, said: "We are very disappointed with this judgment. We feel it is very draconian and has huge implications for the media generally."