€100,000 costs estimated over GAA photo

A continuing High Court battle resulting from a €6,500 fine on a newspaper, over its publication of a photograph of a GAA player in which his private parts were exposed, has incurred legal costs to date estimated at more than €100,000.

Mr Justice Declan Budd yesterday reserved his decision on whether to refer to the Supreme Court a point of law in the case of Carlow GAA player Richard Sinnott relating to the imposition of damages for breach of a constitutional right to privacy arising from a negligent action.

The Carlow Nationalisthas sought determination by the Supreme Court of certain issues arising from its publication of the photograph of Mr Sinnott, arguing that the issues involved are of major importance for the media.

Jeremy Maher SC, for the newspaper, proposed yesterday that the Supreme Court should be asked to determine whether the photograph's publication amounted in law to conduct of a deliberate, conscious and unjustified nature, whether it breached Mr Sinnott's constitutional right to privacy and, if so, whether Mr Sinnott was entitled to damages.

The Supreme Court should also have a summary of the judge's findings of facts in the case, he said.

However, Simon Boyle SC, for Mr Sinnott, said the real point, given the judge's findings against the newspaper, was whether Mr Sinnott was entitled to recover damages. If the judge did decide to refer the matter, and he was contending the court should not, the only three matters of fact which should go to the Supreme Court were that the photograph was published negligently, the publication was conscious and deliberate and had breached Mr Sinnott's constitutional right to privacy. Mr Boyle argued no point of law arose which required determination by the Supreme Court. He referred to various High Court decisions which, he argued, had already decided the issues raised.

The proceedings arise from a decision by Carlow Circuit Court in June 2006 awarding Mr Sinnott (23), Clonegal, Co Carlow, €6,500 damages for breach of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional harm and negligence arising from publication in the Carlow Nationalistin June 2005, of pictures of Mr Sinnott taken while he was playing in a GAA match. His private parts were visible in one photograph.

Mr Sinnott, who is now in Australia, had given evidence of being very upset by the publication.

Last month, when rejecting the newspaper's appeal against the findings of the Circuit Court after a seven-day hearing, Mr Justice Budd found the publication of the offending photograph of Mr Sinnott was negligent and resulted from "a publishing mess".

The judge also said he had found that it "strained all credulity" that the publication was simply accidental. He believed on the balance of probabilities that the problem with the photograph must have been seen by the photographer and the pagemakers.

However, he did accept the evidence of the newspaper's sports editor Paul Donaghy, who had said he was not aware of the offending nature of the photo and that he would not have published it if he was.