Radio hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O will not be prosecuted for contempt of court over on-air comments made during mushroom murderer Erin Patterson’s trial.<\/p>\n
Sandilands took to the airwaves on KIIS FM and said “lock that bitch up” during a news segment about the case on June 16.<\/p>\n
It was the same day prosecutors began closing arguments in the high-profile trial.<\/p>\n
“Is this big lump still getting around, this big lump \u2026 miserable looking thing,” he said on the Kyle and Jackie O show.<\/p>\n
“My question is how strong is her case?” his co-host asked.<\/p>\n
“Not strong, not strong for her,” Sandilands replied.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Erin Patterson was eventually sentenced to life in prison for the murders of Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson. (AAP Image: Joel Carrett)<\/p>\n
Later in the segment, Sandilands again accused Patterson of being guilty.<\/p>\n
“The rest of us already know \u2026 come on bro, you can tell by looking at her, lock that bitch up,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Takes too long, these courts should be in and out, decided and moved on.”<\/p>\n
Patterson, who was eventually found guilty of murdering three relatives and trying to poison another with a toxic beef Wellington, had maintained her innocence at the trial.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors had also previously accused her of trying to kill her husband, Simon, but discontinued those charges.<\/p>\n
The radio hosts’ comments drew the ire of the Patterson trial judge, Christopher Beale, who referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider contempt of court charges.<\/p>\n
A Mamamia Out Loud podcast episode and a public presentation made by Dr Rachel Toles titled The Psychology of Serial Killers were also referred to the director.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Office of Public Prosecutions confirmed no charges would be laid.<\/p>\n
“It has been determined that in all the circumstances none of the incidents had a clear tendency, as a matter of practical reality, to prejudice the fair trial of Ms Patterson on the charges against her,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
“It is considered that the required elements of contempt could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt, and there are no reasonable prospects of conviction for the referred incidents.”<\/p>\n
While jury trials are ongoing, media outlets are required to report only facts before the court to safeguard jurors from outside information.<\/p>\n
Media outlets or journalists found guilty of sub judice contempt risk large fines or potential jail time, and in worst-case scenarios, trials have been abandoned due to problematic reporting.<\/p>\n
Radio hosts told to ‘engage their brains’<\/p>\n
On June 16, Justice Beale condemned the comments made on the Kyle and Jackie O Show when jury members were out of the room.<\/p>\n
“I have read a transcript of that commentary. I encourage all commentators to engage their brains before they open their mouths, as they may otherwise land themselves and their organisations in hot water,” he said.<\/p>\n
On June 5, Justice Beale also addressed the Mamamia podcast episode.<\/p>\n
“The discussion was full of highly prejudicial expressions of opinion. I won’t repeat them here. After being directed to remove the podcast, it has been taken down,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I remind media and podcasters that ignorance of the law is no excuse.”<\/p>\n
Kyle and Jackie O have a long history of controversial on-air segments and breaches of the commercial radio code of practice.<\/p>\n