http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-33687420

This is one of those cases that is setting out how the Internet & the Law mix.

You may recall my mail on 15 July 2015 (“Security Guard removed Baby from Nursing Mother's Breast (disputed claim)”):-

1. Caroline Starmer, 28, of Leicester wrote a post in Free to Feed (a forum on breast-feeding)
2. She said that she was breastfeeding in Primark in Leicester on July 13, when a security guard removed her baby from her breast
3. The store reviewed CCTV & disputed her claims

She was interviewed by a News Agency, and her claims appeared within UK national newspapers & online, including the BBC.

She has now been served with a criminal charge of Intent to Pervert the Course of Public Justice, and is due to appear at Leicester Magistrates' Court on 24 August. According to findlaw.co.uk “the maximum sentence for this offence is life imprisonment” (crumbs).

The Police have said not to post anything online that might prejudice the court proceedings (to do so is yet another, criminal, offence):-

Criminal proceedings have now commenced and the defendant has the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.

---------
Alex Kemp