Kyle and Jackie O face contempt of court charges over mushroom comments
Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson are facing contempt of court charges over on-air comments made about the Erin Patterson mushroom case.
The trial’s judge, Justice Christopher Beale, referred the duo to the Office of Public Prosecutions for contempt of court charges last week, after viewing a transcript of a KIIS FM show in which they addressed the high profile court case.
The pair are in esteemed company when it comes to alleged breaches of the sub judice restrictions on the case. The laws are intended to suppress any commentary around the triple-murder trial that could unfairly influence the outcome.
Kyle and Jackie O
The ABC’s Mushroom Case Daily, a podcast summarising each day of the trial, was accused of breaching a suppression order earlier this month, after naming specific witnesses in an episode. The offending podcast was live on ABC’s various platforms for 24 hours, before being removed, and had been downloaded by tens of thousands of listeners. The show was the most-listened-to podcast in the country at the time of the breach.
A Crikey story that referred to the “media circus” surrounding the trial also fell foul of suppression orders and was later amended [albeit without making note of the previous breach], while Mamamia and Channel 10 were both warned about elements of their reporting, after offering various takes on witness testimony.
Social media influencer and ‘mummy blogger’ Constance Hall revealed she was sent a legal letter after “numerous comments” under a Facebook post “breached the principles” of sub judice contempt.
“FYI you guys, I had to remove the post about the mushroom trial because I received an email from the Vic government telling me to immediately delete it,” she told her 1.3 million followers.
ARN, parent company of KIIS FM, declined to comment over Sandilands and Henderson’s alleged breach when contacted by Mumbrella.
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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