Ex-minister is sent to prison

Thursday 18th November 2010, 3:00PM GMT.

Stuart Syvret

FORMER Senator Stuart Syvret was jailed for ten weeks, fined £4,200 and ordered to pay legal costs of £10,000 as his lengthy court case finally came to an end yesterday.

At the conclusion of his trial in the Magistrate’s Court, Syvret was fined after being found guilty of twice breaching data protection laws. He had named on his internet blog a former Hospital nurse who he accused of murdering patients – despite a police investigation finding no evidence to support such claims.

But it was three new counts of being in contempt of court that led to his imprisonment, with Syvret paying the price for fleeing Jersey for the UK last year. He was charged with being in contempt between November 2009 and May 2010, when he did not attend court, and for walking out during proceedings.
‘Public interest’

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