The Irish high court has dismissed an application to have two daily newspaper editors and two journalists jailed for an alleged contempt of court.
A Dublin man, Patrick Kelly, demanded that the four be imprisoned because of articles published in July last year by the Irish Times and the Irish Independent. He also demanded that assets be seized from the papers.
He claimed that the articles, which followed a ruling against him by the European Court of Justice, could prejudice a case he has been pursuing in Ireland's high court.
That involves an action Kelly originally launched against University College Dublin in 2002 after he was refused entry to a degree course.
Kelly made a complaint on sexual discrimination grounds to the country's equality tribunal, which dismissed his complaint in 2006.
It was then that he started high court proceedings. His action at the European court was the result of certain rulings made by the high court, which has yet to rule on his substantive action.
Yesterday, the judge said he was satisfied that the papers' reporting of the European court case was not in contempt of court, nor was it prejudicial.
Source: Irish Times
