KAIETEUR News Editor, Mr. Adam Harris and his junior reporter, Miss Rehanna Ramsay, who were cited for contempt following the publication of an irresponsible report that led to Justice Brassington Reynolds aborting a murder trial, were contrite in court yesterday.

The defendants who were invited to court to show cause why they should not be dealt with condignly for the offence of contempt were represented by Attorney-at-Law Mr.  Khemraj Ramjattan.
After the case was called, Justice Brassington Reynolds,  who was conducting a voir dire in the Andrew Gomes murder  trial for the alleged murder of his father Stanislaus Gomes, was about to rule in the voir dire on Thursday,  when the newspaper article caused him to abort the trial because of the irresponsible and inaccurate reporting. The judge also spoke about the seriousness of the offence and the  cost that it had incurred.
On resumption Thursday, the judge was expected to rule on whether alleged oral and written statements in the case were admissible or inadmissible in evidence, in accordance with his findings in the voir dire that he had conducted; but the judge noted that because of what was written by the reporter concerning the voir dire, it left him with no alternative but to discharge the jury and abort the trial in the interest of justice.
The accused, Andrew Gomes, who was facing trial for the alleged murder of his father, Stanislaus Gomes, was told that his trial was aborted, and  he would have to  be further remanded to prison to face another trial.
Mr. Ramjattan declared that Mr. Harris recognised his failure in the incident and promised that steps would be taken to prevent a  recurrence of what had taken place.
The lawyer also apologised on behalf of Miss Ramsay who while being a freelancer for some time working in the Magistrates’ Court, had only been on the staff of Kaieteur News for a year.
She told the court that she was not in the court from the beginning and therefore was of the view that on the day in question the judge was to deliver a ruling in a matter.
After the junior reporter disclosed that her salary per month totalled $50,000, the judge told her that she would recognise her error at month-end when she would have no money to take home, since she was being fined $50,000 for the inaccurate report.
And Mr. Harris, whose salary per month, he told the court, was $300,000, would have to pay a $150,000 fine.
Mr. Ramjattan noted that what amounted to an apology was published in the Kaieteur News yesterday admitting that it was a case of total lack of knowledge of the judicial system, an ignorance of what a voir dire is, and poor editing and management by Kaieteur News Ltd that led to a murder trial being aborted on Thursday.