Received the court letter
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Hello SadMum,
I feel for you going through this part of this horrible journey, courts are nerve wracking enough without the intervention of the press. My husband wasn't photographed going into court at his plea hearing as the press didn't know who he was, there were press in court on the day but we thought we had avoided any photographs as my husband covered his head and face totally when we were leaving (there was a photographer waiting outside). Other than confirming his name and address no other details were read out in court. What we didn't expect was the press did some searching on line and my husband had totally forgotten about an old Linked in account and to our horror that evening they published online a full photograph and details of his work and personal history. The day after, it was published in the local and regional newspapers. The same thing happened on the day of sentencing but they used the same photograph and information to sensationalise the case. My advice and I wish someone had told me sooner is to delete every smidgeon of social media including yourselves and close family etc. The press are not always in court and it does depend what else is happening on the day, I have been told we could have asked for privacy protection but our solicitor was absolutely useless in giving any advice. The press are not allowed to photograph in the court building or anyone other than the defendant, so if they are in court and you are also seen there make sure you walk out separately and your son is covered.
I hope and pray for a positive outcome, has your legal team given any indication of what the outcome might be?
I too was worried about vigilantes and I think I will always worry but I had a "Ring" video doorbell installed which alerted us of any movement outside our property, up to now and I know other people have suffered on here but despite the press coverage we have been okay.
Will be thinking of you and hope you are okay, there will be others on this amazing site who will I am sure be able to offer more advice. Take care and lots of love. Xx
I feel for you going through this part of this horrible journey, courts are nerve wracking enough without the intervention of the press. My husband wasn't photographed going into court at his plea hearing as the press didn't know who he was, there were press in court on the day but we thought we had avoided any photographs as my husband covered his head and face totally when we were leaving (there was a photographer waiting outside). Other than confirming his name and address no other details were read out in court. What we didn't expect was the press did some searching on line and my husband had totally forgotten about an old Linked in account and to our horror that evening they published online a full photograph and details of his work and personal history. The day after, it was published in the local and regional newspapers. The same thing happened on the day of sentencing but they used the same photograph and information to sensationalise the case. My advice and I wish someone had told me sooner is to delete every smidgeon of social media including yourselves and close family etc. The press are not always in court and it does depend what else is happening on the day, I have been told we could have asked for privacy protection but our solicitor was absolutely useless in giving any advice. The press are not allowed to photograph in the court building or anyone other than the defendant, so if they are in court and you are also seen there make sure you walk out separately and your son is covered.
I hope and pray for a positive outcome, has your legal team given any indication of what the outcome might be?
I too was worried about vigilantes and I think I will always worry but I had a "Ring" video doorbell installed which alerted us of any movement outside our property, up to now and I know other people have suffered on here but despite the press coverage we have been okay.
Will be thinking of you and hope you are okay, there will be others on this amazing site who will I am sure be able to offer more advice. Take care and lots of love. Xx
Hiya, so I didnt go to my brothers magistrates hearing as he didnt want me there but our mum went and she told me bits about it. So from what she told me Id say to prepare to read or listen to whatever it is that your son has looked at or watched online in quite some detail, and to be there for a good few hours. He was told to be there for 10am I think and they were there for most of the afternoon. He wasnt reported in the papers or anything.. as far as we know, we all came off Facebook a couple weeks ago - havent missed it! But our local magistrates court is in a fairly quiet town. They told him that he might get a custodial sentence of 3 years so now we just wait and see what the judge decides. Magistrates was at the start of the month and we are at Crown in just under 2 weeks time as long as it doesn't get postponed.
I hope you're doing okay and that this helps you even just a little bit. xx
I hope you're doing okay and that this helps you even just a little bit. xx
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Hi Sadmum, I'm not sure it thus will be much help to you, but I'm posting it whilst I remember for anyone else in a similar situation.
For my partner nothing happened press wise at the magistrates. In preparation for the court appearances we searched high and low on the Internet for any trace of him (fortunately he didn't have a strong online presence so we didn't need to do a lot) and doing our best to remove references of him. I'd recommend search his name and the town, name and hobbies he may have, name and all his previous employers names. It's amazing what shows up, I recently did it to myself and there is all sorts of stuff going back 15 - 20 years from charity work, competitions I've won, teams I've been part of local press articles I've been interviewed for or written - Nothing sinester but all provide press with the opportunities to embellish their story.
I'd recommend anyone that at any time is expecting they will go to court do this ASAP. Search results don't immediately disappear, even if the content has been removed. For example it you had a article removed or came off social media, the result for your profile may show in Google for sometime after and could show summary information of the article or profile, even if when you click on the link the page doesn't exist. You can ask Google to remove search results to pages about you that no longer exist but after a few weeks the results tend to disappear anyway.
I didn't attend the court with my partner. I know plea hearing was very short and his sentencing less than an hour
My partner wore a mask to obscure his face going in.
That's great the OIC aren't releasing a picture of him.
My partner was in the press less than 3 hours after his sentencing. I think it really varies. Fingers crossed it doesn't go to press for you.
For my partner nothing happened press wise at the magistrates. In preparation for the court appearances we searched high and low on the Internet for any trace of him (fortunately he didn't have a strong online presence so we didn't need to do a lot) and doing our best to remove references of him. I'd recommend search his name and the town, name and hobbies he may have, name and all his previous employers names. It's amazing what shows up, I recently did it to myself and there is all sorts of stuff going back 15 - 20 years from charity work, competitions I've won, teams I've been part of local press articles I've been interviewed for or written - Nothing sinester but all provide press with the opportunities to embellish their story.
I'd recommend anyone that at any time is expecting they will go to court do this ASAP. Search results don't immediately disappear, even if the content has been removed. For example it you had a article removed or came off social media, the result for your profile may show in Google for sometime after and could show summary information of the article or profile, even if when you click on the link the page doesn't exist. You can ask Google to remove search results to pages about you that no longer exist but after a few weeks the results tend to disappear anyway.
I didn't attend the court with my partner. I know plea hearing was very short and his sentencing less than an hour
My partner wore a mask to obscure his face going in.
That's great the OIC aren't releasing a picture of him.
My partner was in the press less than 3 hours after his sentencing. I think it really varies. Fingers crossed it doesn't go to press for you.
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That's good. Well done for being so proactive.
I guess the court appearance brings it back into reality so with that anxiety. The other way to look at it is one step closer to knowing what you are working with both in sentence and other consequences. It's a horrible reality to face, but one that can't be avoided, but sounds like you've done a lot to mitigate the risks.
Like so much of this journey it seems luck of the draw what happens with the media and people's reaction to the media. Wishing you and your son all the best.
Wishing you all the best
I guess the court appearance brings it back into reality so with that anxiety. The other way to look at it is one step closer to knowing what you are working with both in sentence and other consequences. It's a horrible reality to face, but one that can't be avoided, but sounds like you've done a lot to mitigate the risks.
Like so much of this journey it seems luck of the draw what happens with the media and people's reaction to the media. Wishing you and your son all the best.
Wishing you all the best
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