Court rules in BBC's favour over SF political broadcast

THE BBC was right to refuse to transmit a Sinn Fein party political broadcast containing potentially libelous film clips, a judge…

THE BBC was right to refuse to transmit a Sinn Fein party political broadcast containing potentially libelous film clips, a judge ruled in the High Court in Belfast yesterday.

One of the clips showed the Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, speaking on a mobile phone at Drumcrea immediately followed by scenes of police atoning people on the Garvaghy Road.

The second sequence showed DUP MP, Mr William McCrea, sharing a platform with Billy Wright in Portadown.

Sinn Fein's director of publicity, Mr Jim Giboney, applied for a judicial review of the BBC's decision on the grounds that it was irrational.