Goldsmith warns editors over 'trial by media'

The growth in "trial by media" has prompted the Attorney General to issue guidance to the press about the way it reports high-profile criminal investigations and trials.

His intervention follows the prejudicial reporting that led to the collapse of the first Leeds United footballers' trial and the overwhelming coverage of the early stages of the prosecution of Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr over the deaths of two Soham schoolgirls.

Last night Lord Goldsmith said he would now issue new advice which he hoped would clarify the law for editors.

The Government's senior law officer warned the media: "I have become increasingly concerned at the nature and weight of media coverage in high-profile and sensitive criminal cases ... I am also conscious of the seemingly growing and more frequent need to issue guidance notes dealing with much more general aspects of pre-trial publicity but which can have the potential to create serious prejudice."

One such warning concerned the weight and nature of reporting in the Soham case.

Lord Goldsmith said: "Trial by media benefits no one and has no place in our society. I will continue to act, in the public interest, with fairness, independence and accountability, to ensure that the courts can administer justice without hindrance."

He also reminded the press that the Government was prepared to introduce laws to ban payments to witnesses in criminal cases if the industry failed to tighten up its own rules.

Lord Goldsmith, speaking at the Mary Ward Legal Centre in central London, said he would now consult the Press Complaints Commission and the media over how best to frame his new advice.